Bob the Builder and the Congo Snake - One of my Adventures on Mustique, W.I.

[bdahunter]

A few years ago before I moved to Bermuda from my home and native land of Canada I was asked to manage the construction of a mansion on the island of Mustique in the West Indies. I'm a hands on construction manager and a carpenter by trade (you never lose your trade).
I flew down to Mustique with a bunch of glowing promises from the owner and met with some serious dissappointment.
Mustique is a private island owned by a bunch of super rich guys just off the coast of St. Vincent. I was put up with some of my expat crew in a beautiful oceanfront estate complete with infinity pool, maid, cook and gardener. My neighbours were Mick Jagger, Tommy Hilfiger and Brian Adams; it was that kind of island. Stinking rich and totally private; an oasis where the super rich can let down their hair and try to act normal, NO CAMERAS ALLOWED!! (Shania Twain, Princess Margaret, Dow Chemical heirs, Felix Maxwell the owner of Maxum Magazine, etc. also had mansions on this island) but I digress.
My first day on the job I was shocked at how badly the local workers were treated compared to the expats and I took steps to improve their lot in life, this really peeved the owner but tough luck. A guy on my crew is a guy on my crew, we all pull together and we should all be treated fairly. My local guys decided that I was decent enough so they gave me an island name 'Bob'. I finally asked them why they wanted to call me Bob and they said they thought I was Ai-Ree so they named me after the guy on TV. I assumed they meant Bob Villa from This Old House who is a total idiot as far as I'm concerned so I was a little crestfallen. My local foreman Ninja couldn't understand why I wasn't happy about my name so I told him what I was thinking. He looked at me oddly and said "I never hear Bob Villa but we call you 'Bob' for 'Bob the Builder' he the little guy on TV that work hard and make everything Good". I felt better for Ninja's explaination.








The site was made up of two cleared areas separated by a strip of jungle, one clearing for the mansion the other for the servants' quarters. I had split my crews between the two areas and set them to work. After about an hour of work on the main site I walked down the road to the servants' site and found my four guys sitting on the foundation wall in the shade of the main wall staring at a palm tree at the edge of the jungle. What the heck was going on here? I walked up to Ninja and asked him why he and his men were 'sitting out'.
Ninja said "Can't work Bob, Congo snake in dat tree over dere" and pointed to the palm tree that the rest of the workers were still staring at. I looked at the palm tree and didn't see a snake just an air plant the size of a football growing out of the side of the palm.
The work I had assigned this crew ran right beside the palm tree in question and I could see that they had got to within 5 feet of the palm tree and then stopped, abandoning their tools. I figured these guys were putting me on and testing my good nature so I turned to Ninja and said "I don't see a snake, do you"?
"No" says Ninja "I don' see a snake Bob but dere is a Congo snake in dat tree".
"Where!" I said.
"In de ting growin' on de side of de palm" was Ninja's reply.
"I don't see a snake and you don't see a snake but you say there is a snake, is this an Invisible Snake?" I said sarcastically.
"You don' see a Congo Snake, Bob; You Smell It" said Ninja in a tone that indicated I was a fool and should know this.
"Really?" I said "and just what does a Congo Snake smell like"?
"Like Freshie, Bob" says Ninja. (he might have added "don't you know anything?")
I walked up to where the tools lay on the ground by the base of the palm tree and sure enough I could smell the stong scent of lemon-lime freshie - What the Hell was this?
I confirmed with Ninja and the guys that there was definitely a snake in the air plant and they would not work anywhere near it. "No problem" I said "I'll get rid of the snake and then you can get back to work". Ninja and the guys looked at me in disbelief and when I picked up a 10 ft. long 2x2 and headed towards the palm tree they all got up and moved behind the wall of the servants' quarters, except for Ninja who stood his ground. I raised the 2x2 to knock the air plant off of the palm tree and was just about to give it a good poke when Ninja grabbed my arm and said "Don' do it Bob, Congo Snake is deadly poisonous"!!
Now one of the questions I had asked the owner of the construction company before I had agreed to come to Mustique was Were there any poisonous snakes, spiders, plants, etc. that I should know about? 'None!' was the answer, 'Mustique is Perfectly Safe'. With foolish confidence I turned to my local foreman and said "Ninja, there are no poisonous snakes on this island".
"Congo Snake is deadly poisonous, Bob; dey be beery calm, if you bodder dem dey get vexed, bad trouble for you, Bob" was Ninja's reply.
Now I had already figured out that the owner was an @#$%& from the way he treated my men but I didn't think he was a liar and even if he had made a mistake I wasn't worried, I had dealt with rattlesnakes many times in my travels through the woods in Canada so no big deal. A rattler makes a big show to warn you away when it feels threatened and as soon as it can get away safely it does just that, a rattlesnake that wastes it's precious venom on something it can't swallow will soon be a dead rattler.
"Don't worry Ninja, I'll take care of it" and brushed his hand aside. I could handle this, easy. Ninja sort of shook his head and rolled his eyes as if to say "Crazy White Guy" and stepped back to the edge of the building but still not inside with the rest of the crew. I proceeded to show the locals how it was done Canadian style.
I gave the air plant a solid poke with the 2x2 and it came down in a heap, first try. It landed with a thud on the ground from a fall of about 8 ft. and at first nothing happened, then I saw a little bit of movement.
A green snake with yellow diamonds on its' back and a white and yellow belly uncoiled itself from the air plant. It was 6 feet long with the triangular head of a viper, just like a rattler only thinner, no problem, it would slink off into the jungle. The Congo Snake lifted its' head 2 feet off of the ground and flicked its' tongue in all directions trying to find the source of the attack, until it flicked it in my direction at which point it immediately attacked.
Holy Crap! This was no Rattler!
I was stunned for a second and this snake was lightning fast as it shot towards me. Instinct must have kicked in because I swung the 2x2 down from where I was still holding it after knocking down the air plant. I caught it a good hit right in the midsection and that snake swung around and bit my 2x2 so hard I could feel the hit all the way up that 10 feet of pole. It let go and started coming again so I backed up and gave it another whack. At this point I can still hear Ninja's words in my head "HE BE VEXED NOW, BOB!!" That snake was definitely vexed, I was backing up as fast as I could and it kept coming as fast as it could, I kept hitting it which slowed it down but also made it more (you guessed it) VEXED. I just didn't have enough time to get the 2x2 high enough for a killing stroke. At this point my strategic withdrawl ended as I had backed into the wall of the servants' quarters and there was no place left to go. I couldn't choke up the 2x2 and there was no way I could outrun this fast and very angry snake. I thought if I could stomp on it's head with my workboots I might have a chance but a slim one at best, I was going to get bitten by a Congo Snake, @#$%&!
The Congo was within striking range now and had pulled back to make its' strike when another 2x2 came whistling down and smacked it hard in the head, knocking it back a few feet. This gave me enough room to step sideways and give it a solid hit myself, before it could recover. Standing shoulder to shoulder with me, 2x2 in hand, was Ninja! That snake wouldn't quit, it just kept on coming, right out into the middle of the clearing where we both had room to retreat and take turns swinging at the snake with our 2x2's. We were in the middle of the clearing before we finally killed that 6 foot Congo Snake and the air reeked of lemon-lime freshie. We were both sweating and giddy in the way you get when something really bad almost happens to you but you manage to get through it. We both started laughing like schoolboys and the rest of the crew came out of the building to congratulate us and check out the snake.
After making sure that the Congo Snake was truly dead we disposed of the remains in a ditch at the back of the site for the rats to eat.
Ninja and I were tight for the rest of the job and we hung out together quite a bit, much to the chagrin of the owner who didn't want the construction manager socializing with a local.
Screw him! he wasn't worth spit compared to Ninja or the rest of my guys on the crew!!

Hope you enjoyed sharing one of my island experiences,

BDA








It turns out that the congo snake (local name) hides in air plants and lures birds to it with its' lemon-lime scent. It is very poisonous but relatively harmless unless disturbed (or vexed) wherein it has a very bad temperament. The owner later explained that there were no poisonous animals on the island except for Congo Snakes (deadly), fire ants (a serious problem), Touch-me-not ( a plant 10 times worse than poison ivy) and a spider that would make a piece of your flesh rot away the size of a quarter if it bit you. Thanks a lot, Jackass!
They did keep some anti-venom on the island but it wasn't always up to date as the anti-venom was very expensive due to the rarity of this snake.

Cheers,

BDA

[ERnurse]

That was a great story. That's why I read this instead of the paper every morning.

[rip]

Cool story Bud ! Reminds me of a time I was fishing with a buddy and he was attacked by a cottonmouth.He was running backwards trying to hit the snake with a big stick and kept missing it.Finally he threw the stick in the air and ran.The stick landed on the snake pinning him to the ground.I walked over picked up the snake and explained to my buddy that the snake was only trying to get back into the water and that he was in it's way.Then I set him free and whent back to fishin.

[bdahunter]

I was trying to get out of that vexed snake's way but he was determined to make me his destination.

Glad you enjoyed the read, Mate,

BDA

[MinelabMan]

[quote=bdahunter;150321]......."Don't worry Ninja, I'll take care of it" and brushed his hand aside. I could handle this, easy. Ninja sort of shook his head and rolled his eyes as if to say "Crazy White Guy" and stepped back to the edge of the building but still not inside with the rest of the crew.[quote]Can't say that I disagree with Ninja on that call , but I would have probably done the same thing. Glad Ninja stepped up to the plate on that one.

I'm impressed with the respect that you have for your crew inspite of what the "elite" may think of you. If it wasn't for them, who would do the jobs that are "below" the others. Imagine the island without them.

Bob the Builder is cool, never heard of him until my grandsons brought the dvd when they last visited. He used a metal detector to find a buried pipe! He's got my vote!

[bdahunter]

[quote=MinelabMan;150339][quote=bdahunter;150321]......."Don't worry Ninja, I'll take care of it" and brushed his hand aside. I could handle this, easy. Ninja sort of shook his head and rolled his eyes as if to say "Crazy White Guy" and stepped back to the edge of the building but still not inside with the rest of the crew.

Can't say that I disagree with Ninja on that call , but I would have probably done the same thing. Glad Ninja stepped up to the plate on that one.

I'm impressed with the respect that you have for your crew inspite of what the "elite" may think of you. If it wasn't for them, who would do the jobs that are "below" the others. Imagine the island without them.

Bob the Builder is cool, never heard of him until my grandsons brought the dvd when they last visited. He used a metal detector to find a buried pipe! He's got my vote!

I learned how to run a site and a crew from Gramp. There was no job he wouldn't do on the jobsite, even though he was the master builder. Gramp was very old school and always took care of his men, I try to live up to that standard. My men always come before the brass in their stuffed shirts, most have never done a lick of work in their lives so they don't know how to deal with a crew. Unit integrity is everything!

Cheers,

BDA
It makes you wonder 'Would Ninja have stepped in and risked his neck if I had been an elitist like many of the expats on that island or would I just be another statistic?'

[ERnurse]

I can almost assure you, if you would have acted like the elitest, he would have found something better to do than help with the snake. Like rearrange his sock draw.

[MinelabMan]

That's the way to live your life, we're all equal, regardless of our place in the pecking order!

[anne]

Great story

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[The TINMAN]

Great Story bda !!! Yeah BOB Villa... All Show and No Go. Never lets whoever is trying to explain something Finish what they have to say. Saw a thing on a Futuristic house with all the Do dads and stuff.. Some Rich couple bought it and half the things didn't work.
Your a Good Man bda standin with your Crew. I never ask anyone to do something I wouldn't get right in there with them to do. Beautiful Photos ! Guess the next time ninja gave a piece of advise You gave it a little more heed. Bob The Builder.. Thats Quite a Compliment ! WTG bda !!!!!!!!!