The Perils and Perks of a Snake Catcher in Darwin

First published in Scales and Tails Australia Issue 45 - Jan 2016.

I've been living in Darin for the past three years now and have been a snake catcher for the Parks and Wildlife Commissionm of the Northern Territory for the majority of that time. It's a fun and easy occupation that pays me to catch snakes (talk about a dream job)!

During this time I have had more than my fair share of Slaty-grey Snakes, Top End Carpet Pythons and Water Pythons, not to mention the thousands of Common Tree Snakes and reasonably common Banded Brown Tree Snakes.

Being a southerner and used to the snake calls of rural NSW which saw me only ever dealing with Eastern Browns, the occasional Spotted Black snake and the even rare Red bellied black snake I started off pretty excited for the vast variety of top end natives. However it was somewhere between my third Coastal Taipan (Slaty-grey Snake) and my tenth King Brown Snake (Water Python) that I started to realise just how clueless the general population is with regard to snake identification. Then there are the countless Spotted Tree Goannas that have been mistaken for snakes,  young "Billy's" rubber snake and of course the two times I've been called for a stick yes that's right you read correct twice now I've had someone confuse a stick with a snake.

 Keeping this in mind one thing I find very useful about this job (and also my full time job reptile keeper job at Crocosaurus Cove) is the opportunity to inform and educate the wider population about our scaled friends. Education will help change the minds and opinions of those who see snakes only as evil creatures, and hopefully result in less moronic people out there thinking that "the only good snake's a dead one".

I'd like to share with you some of the fun times I've had on snake call - and some that haven't been so much fun. The action starts in...a toilet!

I was on snake call one evening when a man phoned me from a rural area of Darwin around Humpty Doo which is approximately 30kms from the city.

He told me he had a rather large Carpet Python in his toilet. I jump in the car, not exactly filled with excitement, and headed off to collect this slippery and hopefully not smelly snake.

I got to the property (A house surrounded by bushland) to find that the man did indeed have a snake literally in his toilet! Oh the joys of the snake catcher, I thought to myself while fishing out this behemoth of a carpet python  (close to 2 meters) from his dunny. The guy who lived there loved the entertainment and took heaps of photos of me and the snake.

Great, so then I had a toilet-water wet snake coiled over my arms and torso. I was in a hurry to get out of there and get clean, I can tell you that much. I bagged the snake,  washed my hands then left to relocated the animal approximately a kilometre from the house, hoping never to see it again.

The next day I have the same call from the same gentleman saying the snake is back in the toilet! After some discussion, we decide to leave it alone for the night- I'm very happy to report that I haven't heard from him since.

 On another night I had a call from the local police to report a King Brown Snake in a suburban area. Assuming that they would know what a king brown looked like, I sped off keen to catch the monster and save the village folk from the dangerously-poisonous snake.  I arrived on the scene to find two police wagons with all the party lights flashing and four officers pointing there flashlights at a Water Python! I decided to have some fun with this one and told them all to stand back. Then I casually walk up and pick the snake up mid body and tail.; it trashes around and tries to bite like all water pythons do. After some time, it settles down (due in part to expert handling skills) and I have it crawling up my arms - the police were freaking out! The poor officers were viewing me as some kind of madman, so I explain that it is a harmless Water Python  and gave them a quick rundown on a few of the differences between Water Pythons and King Browns. At least I felt like four police officers were a little better informed for next time; the snake was later released into some nearby bushland.

Now for a Taipan of a story. Early one morning, around 5:00am, I get the delightful call to a 'Taipan' in a man's house. I get up and dressed and make my way to the address knowing full well the snake in question isn't a Taipan, but no matter what I said I couldn't change his mind as he 'knows snakes' and he 'grew up in the bush 'after all.

Upon arrival I left all catching equipment in the car to see exactly what type of snake I will be dealing with. It was in a spare bedroom that a complete and utter mess.

After flipping some mattresses and moving out all the clothes from the floor and trying not to knock over an interesting-looking, homemade Poweraide bottle 'vase' I eventually found a curled up Slaty-grey Snake with that typical 'Slaty' attitude (All bite and musk). I tell you what though, lucky it wasn't a Taipan, as it doubled up on itself and started chewing on my finger.

The occupant of the hovel starts freaking out, still convinced his 'bush' knowledge was serving  him well and certain I was now being envenomated by a Taipan. What a great morning!

I took the snake out and relocated it into the park across the road and then returned home for some beauty sleep (not that I need it)!

One of my favourite call outs I have had was for something a little bit more peculiar and special. Now in saying that I've also encountered my fair share of reptiles not native to the Top End,  including two Centralian Carpet Pythons and more than a hand full of Coastal Carpet Pythons that were probably either escaped or dumped pets (naughty, naughty)! Seriously though readers, be responsible with your pets and don't just dump them if you get bored or can't care for your reptilian friends.

This story starts at around 12:00am, just as I had started to doze off to sleep for the night. Then the 'snake phone' rings. The ringtone that I'm now so well in tune to it sends shivers down my spine with every chime. Oh, the luck! Just as I get to sleep I have to go on call. I answer the phone and it's the head of security from the Casino. He's informed me he's caught a very placid sea snake and has it ready for me to pick up (never pick up snakes unless you are professionally trained). I assume it's anything but a sea snake and try to figure out what it could be as I get dressed and drive to the casino. I headed through the crowd of gamblers to the security office looking ever so classy in my typical Territorian attire (work boots, jeans and fishing shirt). 

Sure enough, to my surprise I unzip the makeshift snake bag (a 20L freezer bag) to discover there's a sea snake in it; to be more specific the White-lipped Sea Krait (Laticauda colubrina).

Knowing that this animal was special (and I was very tired) I decided to hang on to it over night and deal with it in the morning. Lucky, as this was the first official record of this species in Darwin.

The snake was released into the harbour adjacent to the casino in the following days; a very satisfying outcome.

Living in Darwin is pretty good if you're into reptiles and I certainly have enjoyed my time herping around the local areas- and the very easy herping I get while on snake call. 

These stories represent only a handful of the many snake calls received by the Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory every year, and although the bu;lk may be due to  nonvenomous species, occasionally there are Northern Brown Snakes (or so they tell me as I'm yet to get one on call) and Whip Snakes which makes this a very valuable free service to locals.

Like I said at the beginning of the article, teaching the general public is the way to change people's views. of the majority. I hope you the reader take it upon yourself to help educate others and change the way they see snakes.

Cheers and Happy herpin'