IPOH: Faizilawati Husin thought she had seen it all in her 12 years of service with the Malaysia Civil Defence Force (APM).

       But for the first time, she had to “rescue” a fake snake.

       It all began when her unit got a call from Changkat Jering at around 4pm last Wednesday.

       “We received a distress call from a woman who saw a snake right in front of her metal fence,” said Faizilawati, 36.

       So, she rushed to the scene with three other APM members.

       “We got there within minutes. From a distance, we could see a ‘snake’ resting on the fence. By then, I had a hunch that it was a fake reptile,” she said when contacted.

       However, Faizilawati did not take any chances and had her tools at the ready.

       “We knew that it was a fake snake once we saw the colour, which was gray. And it wasn’t moving.

       “As we got closer, it was confirmed that it was indeed a plastic snake.”

       It is believed that a neighbour had placed the snake there to scare off wild animals from entering his vegetable farm.

       A snake had previously entered her house a few years ago, “so she was worried when she saw it,” Faizilawati added.

       The person who had placed the snake there was not at the scene during the “rescue”. Even though it was a fake snake, Faizilawati said she brought it back to her workplace as proof that she had completed her assignment.

       “We were laughing all the way back to our office. And every time I think about it, it still amuses me,” she said.

       Faizilawati also gave credit to the female caller.

       “It is good that she was responsible about it and called us straight away,” she said.