On Sunday, February 19, local lawn bowlers were forced to stop play after the arrival of an unexpected visitor. 

Merimbula Dolphins member Derek Richmond said he was watching some friends playing away from the Club when the game took a somewhat exciting turn when a black snake slithered out of the ditch and onto the green. 

After calling WIRES and finding out the local snake catcher was unavailable it fell to the players to move the snake out of the way. 

“Ron Croker tried to pin it down to move it away, it reared up and tried to strike him but he held his nerve, pinned it down behind its head and was able to get rid of it so they could get back to the game,” Mr Richmond said. 

It took Mr Croker and a couple of other helpers around 15 minutes for them to successfully move the snake and get back to the game. 

“It’s just one of those things, it just frightened people and someone had to get it off the green,” Mr Croker said modestly.

Onlookers were greatly impressed with the way Mr Croker handled the situation with Mr Richmond saying he was just like the famous crocodile hunter.

“We’ve got the next Steve Irwin in Merimbula now,” Mr Richmond said.