People in Mount Isa are catching snakes the wrong way, a Melbourne snake catcher says.
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Raymond Hoser flew up north this month to run a snake catching course at a remote mine.
“I went out to the mine site and they had been trained a few years ago to use tongs to pick up snakes,” Mr Hoser said.
“It seems there are quite a few mines up in Queensland, and Mount Isa in particular, where they are using tongs and the problem with tongs is they can turn placid snakes into killing machines.
“As soon as those tongs clamp shut on a snake, the snake wants to kill them. The one thing to cause a snake to bite in 99.9 per cent of situations is pain,” he said.
“If you do not inflict pain no matter what the hell you do, you probably won’t get bitten.”
Mr Hoser said people should throw tongs in the bin and learn how to wrangle the slippery suckers without hurting them.
“The risk of snake bite is actually higher because a lot of people in Mount Isa think they know how to handle snakes,” he said.
While Mr Hoser believes the best way to catch a snake is to maneuver its head with a pole before grabbing the tail – he says there is a special technique to ply them into a bag without getting bitten and people need to be trained on how to do that.
If you are not keen to dance with chance, you can just call one of Mount Isa’s three professional snake catchers.
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Local snake catcher Gavin Lawrence bags about three snakes a week, and says hot spots include Pamela Street, Fourth Ave, and Healy.
So as temperatures heat up across the region, it is important to know what to do if you happen to get bitten.
First off call Triple Zero (000) immediately and keep the patient as calm as possible to reduce the spread of venom around the body.
Don’t wash the wound, as the hospital may need to test the area to identify the snake.
Bandage over the snake bite firmly, then work up the limb starting at the extremities (fingers and toes) and splint the limb to keep it straight.
We have three snake catchers in Mount Isa – Gavin Lawrence 0428 192 985, Rick Leeman 0457 155 250, and Mark Johnston 0447 152 915.
