Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 5, 1994 TAG: 9410050077
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: LAURA ZIVKOVICH STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
When his mother recently brought him along to a parent-teacher conference at Prices Fork Elementary School, Justin wandered in and out of the conference room to see what was going on in the hallway.
His brother John, 6, a first-grader at the school, took charge of keeping him out of harm's way while his mother spoke to the teacher.
Justin found a bin of balls that immediately captured his attention. As John approached his brother, he saw a snake that he estimates to have been about 10 feet long slithering through the balls. (A teacher's estimate is about 41/2 feet long.) Justin was reaching to pick up the ball on which the snake's head was resting.
Obeying school rules that prohibit running in the hallways, John calmly picked up his brother, carried him away from the bin and reported the incident to his mother and teacher. "I was walking as fast as I could," he said, then demonstrated.
Many snakes indigenous to the area are potentially harmful to young children. The snake, removed and released by school employees, was not identified. John described it as having "a black head with a triangle shape and spots all over."
According to Jack Cranford, associate professor of zoology at Virginia Tech, "calmness and retreat from an encounter with a snake is probably the best move to make." Violent reactions to snakes may startle them and encourage attacks.
John said he was not afraid of the snake but added," I was scared about my brother getting bit."
John and Justin are the sons of Kim and Danny Robinson of Blacksburg.
by CNB