Fangs a Lot

Four times in the past year, John Fretwell's air-conditioning equipment company in Dallas was broken into and robbed. Fretwell took to renting a Doberman pinscher watchdog for weekend duty, but at $75 a weekend, the protection itself seemed little better than petty larceny.

Then Fretwell went up to Oklahoma a month or so ago for a snake hunt, and he brought back what may be the ultimate in burglar protection: seven diamondback rattlesnakes. During business hours, he cages the snakes in the window of his business office, labeled with a sign: DANGER: SNAKES BITE. At night, before going home, he frees the 5-ft. rattlers to glide around the premises. In the morning, armed with a hooked stick and a burlap bag, he rounds them up. There were a few uneasy days when one snake disappeared--it turned up later snoozing in a dark corner--but the rattlers seem to be working like a charm against burglars.

When news of Fretwell's protection ' service spread, the Dallas fire department served notice that Fretwell's place could burn to the ground before a fireman would step inside, and City Hall eventually found an ordinance against keeping snakes uncaged inside the city limits. None of which bothers Fretwell. He and his partner have even gone out on other snake hunts and brought back about 100 rattlers to protect their business acquaintances. As a matter of fact, says Fretwell, "I heard about a fellow who's tinkering with a cobra." Presumably, Dallas burglars should now pack a concealed mongoose instead of a .38.

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