48 lines
2.6 KiB
Plaintext
48 lines
2.6 KiB
Plaintext
Tech Talk; May 23 1984
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MIT's snake in the grass
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MIT junior Michael Fox had studied most of the night so he decided to
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relax in the sun on Killian Court with his pet.
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In fact, he fell asleep, and when he awoke about an hour later his
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companion was gone, having simply slithered away.
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Slithered?
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Yes, slithered. Fox's pet is a three foot ten inch boa constrictor
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names Zmegha, which is Yugoslavian for serpent (the snake was given to
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Fox by a Yugoslavian girl who's also a student at MIT).
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All this occurred on Friday morning, May 11. Fox reported his loss
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to the Campus Police, who conducted an unsuccessful search that day --
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presumably with straight faces.
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Meanwhile it had occurred to others that a boa constrictor on Killian
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Court could create some interesting possibilities on Commencement Day.
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But that eventuality was headed off on Sunday morning, May 13, when
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MIT groundskeeper Orzio Bavaro of Medford went to the court to water
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the grass and was approaching a faucet when he saw the snake. It
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appeared to be stuck in or wrapped around, a metal grating covering a
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basement window in Building 3.
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Bavaro had heard of the missing reptile and notified the campus
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police who, Chief Olivieri said, dispatched a "safari". He also noted
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that the official report on the incident that day was logged in under
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the heading "Successful Expedition".
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And so it was. The police found the snake and, exercising
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discretion, decided to notify Fox to come and get it.
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"They used very official language," Fox said, recalling the telephone
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call, "something like `we've located a reptile answering the
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description of your snake.'"
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Fox said he had to wrestle his pet loose from the grating ("It can be
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stubborn") but found it unharmed.
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Young Fox, who lives off campus a few blocks from the Institute, says
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his pet is free to roam around the room they share. While Zmegha is a
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"baby" just nine and a half months old, boa constrictors grow to more
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than a dozen feet "easily," Fox said. In fact, state law will require
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him to register the snake when it's six feet long, and he plans to
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give it to a zoo when it reaches 10 feet.
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Fox says he feeds his snake a few rodents two to three times a month
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("They don't eat much -- they're very low maintenance pets.") He also
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claims that boa constrictors are "relaxed," not like pythons and
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venomous snakes, "and slow moving except when hungry."
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He said, "They're not really intelligent, but they seem intelligent,
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and they're very physical and fun to play with."
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Chief Olivieri, for his part, said he might request Fox to leave his
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pet at home from now on "before somebody has a heart attack."
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