A meter reader for an electricity company left a note outside a man’s home, explaining the unsettling reason that he was unable to complete the reading that day. This might give you nightmares.
According to Daily Mail, Australian property owner Ian Trevethan shared a photo of a note left by a meter reader employed by Essential Energy. It explained the reason that the worker was unable to read his meter. “Found this note on the meter box this morning,” Trevethan tweeted. “Only in Australia.”
The note explained that the employee was unable to take the reading because a brown snake was blocking the meter. The notice was titled, “Your assistance is required,” and it was left outside of a gate near Trevethan’s meter boxes on his property.
A box on the notice was checked off indicating that the meter was blocked. A blank space next to the checked box allowing for an explanation, which reads, “Brown Snake.” Further down on the notice, the Essential Energy employee wrote, “I was able to read 1 meter before snake came out of grass.”
Trevethan saw the humor in the situation, posting several comments about the incident. “Brown snake scared off the meter reader but I’m certain the bill will still arrive,” he wrote in one post. He added in another post, “I’m going to train him to lay in front of the water meter next. Might be able to hire him out.”
The post was quickly spread on social media, with hundreds of users liking and retweeting it. “Sounds like a way to stop the lazy b*****ds driving over my front lawn to get to meter box and save on the power bill,” one social media user joked.
“Once they detect humans from a distance, snakes don’t keep coming towards you,” another reader commented. “The wuss could have easily read the meter or even walked away until snake went by and come back. Meter readers in previous decades never left excuse notes unless they couldn’t physically access the property.”
While the Essential Energy employee didn’t get to finish his job that day, he definitely made the right call by leaving Trevethan’s property after spotting the brown snake, which is counted among the deadliest snakes in Australia.
If you see one of these bad boys, or any snake that you are unfamiliar with and uncertain whether they are of the non-venomous variety for that matter, don’t take your chances. It’s better to be safe than sorry, as the Essential Energy employee decided when he was out at Ian Trevethan’s property that day.