HK Press: Python passion grips household

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: SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (Hong Kong) 20 October 00 Python passion grips household (Lisa Creffield) : Two highly sexed snakes had to be evicted from an Australian home after their marathon lovemaking sessions started to rattle the rafters. : Queenslanders Cecil and Ann Gakowski suffered sleepless nights while the two-metre carpet pythons were thrashing around in the roof of their farmhouse near Mackay, on the northern state's central coast. : At first they were prepared to put up with the uninvited guests, and Mr Gakowski said he originally thought the noise was a huge possum jumping up and down. But the couple said the noise became worse and worse, "with all this hissing" keeping them awake. "They were twisted up together and rolling around. They were banging against the roof," Mrs Gakowski said. She went to fetch a broom to sweep the reptiles away, but succeeded only in bringing the snakes crashing down to her bedroom floor, where they kept going with their mating session. : "We watched them on the bedroom floor for about an hour. They were sitting up about 60cm in the air, curling up and around each other," Mr Gakowski said. The couple watched from a safe distance, fearful of getting bitten if they intervened, until they finally managed to sweep the snakes out the door, sending them tumbling together down the stairs and ending their affair. : According to herpetologists, there are typically between five and 10 male carpet pythons for every female in the wild. The species, which kills by constricting its prey, tends to be "somewhat highly strung", the experts say. They bite readily if handled and, with their long teeth, the wounds can be serious.

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