By Sara Melillo
Dave D'Aguiar wants to squeeze crime out of his neighbourhood.
He's starting with a four-metre, 20kg Burmese python that guards his home Plattekloof, Cape Town, while he's away on holiday.
His 12-year-old pet snake, Julia Squeezer, along with two other pythons named Snakespeare and Jack the Gripper, regularly slither around D'Aguiar's house and jukebox factory. Add to this his two puffadders, and D'Aguiar has a complete security team.
'If there's going to be a house they're going to avoid, it's going to be mine'
"'There's a madman running around with snakes' - it's the kind of story that gets around," he said.
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D'Aguiar doesn't rely on reptiles alone for his security; he also has an alarm and armed response.
He even founded the Plattekloof Homeowners Association in January, after a neighbour was held up at gunpoint.
Still, D'Aguiar's snakes attract attention. He hasn't had a break-in since he got Julia 12 years ago.
"Whenever there's a break-in, it's a result of a little inside information. If there's going to be a house they're going to avoid, it's going to be mine."
The snakes take a lot of work to keep. D'Aguiar feeds Julia up to six rabbits at once every three to six weeks. The adders eat big rats.
D'Aguiar has been bitten by either Snakespeare or Jack the Gripper between 15 and 20 times, but he can't figure out which one it is because they look alike. He'll get rid of the culprit once he figures it out.
Snakes aren't for every home, though. D'Aguiar said: "If I had to recommend that everybody should get snakes, then there would be a lot of half-eaten bodies lying around and a lot of fat snakes."
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This article was originally published on page 3 of The Star on April 11, 2003
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