Assignment Five

Sally Blaine, a Sunnyvale, CA resident, was having a normal Tuesday night bath when a 6-foot anaconda just happened to poke his head out of the tub's overflow.

The anaconda, Bruno, belongs to James P. Stanley, her neighbor. A programmer for Apple Computer and a snake enthusiast, Stanley lives with his wife, three children and four snakes in the eastern half of a Sunnyvale duplex.

Tuesday night?, Bruno was showing signs of discomfort so Stanley gave him a warm bath. He left to answer the phone and when he returned, Stanley managed to grasp the last few inches of Bruno's tail as he slithered down the drain.

Stanley's wife called the Humane Society while Blaine's husband called the fire department.

Both firefighters and Humane Society personnel arrived at the duplex and began to pull Bruno from opposite ends. The two groups were unaware of each other and continued to play tug of war with Bruno for 10 minutes.

After Stanley realized what was going on, he raced next door to save Bruno. With the cooperation of the Humane Society and Fire Department, Bruno was freed in a few minutes.