A 17-YEAR-old Junior High School pupil of Foase, a farming community in the Atwima Kwanwoma district of Ashanti Region, became the hero of the village when he bravely killed a 12-feet python.
Kofi Kuyole, a pupil of Foase District Assembly JHS, on Thursday, December 1, 2011, spent about 13 hours in the farm to kill the reptile that had swallowed his dog.
The teenager and his four friends had gone to the farm for a hunting expedition whilst their school had gone to play a football match with a neighbouring school.
According to him, he went to the farm, which is about four miles away from the village, under the instruction of his father to go and hunt for grass cutters that were destroying their maize.
Kofi told DAILY GUIDE in an interview that a few hours into the hunting expedition, the dog gave a strange bark that alerted them to go it, only to find that it had been killed by the python.
The teenager said after realizing that the dog was dead, he weeded around where it was lying and waited to see what the python would do later.
He later went and chained the other dogs somewhere, sharpened his machete and waited for the python.
Kofi said that two of his friends who could not stand the scorching sun left for the house while those that stayed behind also enjoyed some sleep in the bush.
When asked whether the sight of the wild reptile scared him, he said he knew where the reptile would come from after spotting its route.
According to Kofi, at about 6:30pm, they heard a strange noise, only to realize that it was the python that was heading in the direction of the dead dog.
�The python stretched the dog before it began to swallow it,� Kofi narrated.
Kofi said he initially wanted to kill the python after it had swallowed the tail part of the dog but was advised by his friends to let the python finish it all.
After fully swallowing the dog, the python attempted to escape but this time Kofi rushed and butchered it with his machete.
Thinking he had accomplished his mission, Kofi was taken by surprise when the python raised its head towards him. He however swiftly hit the head of the python with the machete.
�I then held the head and cut it off,� Kofi said bravely.
According to Kofi, the two friends joined him to carry the reptile home but he had to call his brother at home to come and help because one of the friends had a problem with his hands.
Realizing it was getting late, Kofi asked his colleagues to tie the python around him whilst he held the side with the dog, so as to quicken their pace.
He disclosed that they reached home around 10:00pm and the next day, Friday, scores of residents thronged his house to catch a glimpse of the python.
Kofi disclosed that the dead dog was removed from the reptile�s belly and buried.
�After the residents had satisfied their curiosity, I took the python to the community centre and sold it to someone for GH�70.00,� he said.
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