An unwelcome visitor...

Yesterday, I got home after work and left my living room to go upstairs, only to be startled by the sound of something moving near my washing machine.  I looked over just in time to see the last 2-3 feet of a fairly large snake!  It wasn't really close to me, but it definitely scared the you-know-what out of me.  I promptly went upstairs, put on my combat boots and jeans and tried to formulate a plan to get ride of the sucker.  The problem is that there just aren't any tools in this house that could do the job (a small coffee table was the best weapon I could find).  It seemed prudent to call a buddy who then came over after telling me to get out of the house.  Of course I took his advice and then patiently waited until he arrived.  When he showed up, I was still confident that the snake was near the washing machine, so we made our way into the house to try to find it, but to no avail.  He went to get help from the "mess" (that's basically the officer's club where we eat lunch and dinner) and came back with 6 guys.  That seemed like a little overkill for a snake problem, but when I saw that they were armed with a broomstick, I realized that I did not have the exterminator coming to my rescue!  In spite of some doubts, I did feel pretty good about the situation and our prospects for ridding my house of the intruder.  The "mess" gang entered the house and proceeded to search the kitchen (adjacent to where I had first seen the trespasser) and also the washing machine area where I had spotted the snake, but could not find it.  Interestingly enough, most of them were not wearing anything more than flip-flops if not bare feet, but after spending 15 minutes searching for the snake, they concluded that it had left.  I was not so easily convinced, so I approached the washing machine again only to find that the snake was in fact curled up underneath it, hiding from us.  Amazingly enough, the guys who were supposed to take care of this problem for me had been standing right next to the snake without any protection and could easily have been bitten.  After I pointed the snake out to them, they spent another 5 minutes strategizing in Tamil, before one guy tipped the washing machine up while another used the broom in an attempt to herd the snake out of my house.  Maybe a good sheepdog could have pulled that off, but it didn't work for us.  The snake just made a dash for the kitchen, somehow climbing up into my storage shelves.  I didn't have any food in them, but it was amazing and I might add, frightening to see a large snake elevate two feet off the ground without assistance to gain entry onto the first shelf.  As quickly as it did that, it then proceeded to go up to the next shelf and finally the top one.  At this point, with the snake about 6 feet off the ground and somewhat protected, the guys have turned the broom into a stick (a little more useful weapon) and took some swings at it.  Fortunately, as it was pretty well cornered and on the defensive, they were able to hit it with a few solid blows before it made it's way back down to the floor and slithered, bloodied and wounded, outside.  The guys then made quick work of it as it had become somewhat trapped in a small concrete drainage area.  After inflicting what they deemed to be mortal wounds, they picked up the somewhat lifeless snake with the stick and carried it off.  I then went into the house to assess the damage and found my kitchen floor covered in blood.  In spite of the mess, I will say that it was a big relief to get rid of the snake!  I was glad that a couple of the guys (sort of) cleaned up my kitchen before they went to see what had become of the snake.  I joined them and we found the other guys near a pile of rubbish attempting to burn the still squirming snake.  I wasn't sure I wanted to hang around to see how it would end, so after being confident that that snake would no longer be a problem I slipped back into my house ensuring to close and lock all the doors behind me.  For those of you wondering, here are the details on the snake: It was about 5-6 feet long and I am told that it was not poisonous, although they may just be saying that to put my mind at ease.  Thank God today has been a snake-free day!  Did I mention that before I moved into my house I saw a big snakeskin in the backyard?  I sure hope that it was left by the now dead snake!