If you're looking for some cowboy celebrity stunt of grabbing snakes out of trees and so on, you're in the wrong place.
This guide works well in conjunction with the two other snake-related Instructables:
Snake (or Hook) Stick - which can be viewed here.
Snake Tube - which can be viewed here.
There are a few things to remember when dealing with snakes:
1) Snakes are not toys. Only catch a snake for qualified research purposes, or if you absolutely have to. Remember, it's stressful for the animal to be captured.
2) Start small. Don't try catching a 2-metre cobra on your first day out, you'll come off second best. Start with practising the wrist movements and techniques on a rubber snake or a thick piece of rope. The rope works well because if it's as thick as a snake, it reacts a little bit like one in terms of flexibility. Once you're confident in that, move onto a harmless species, and practise on it. Preferably use a specimen bred in captivity as opposed to a wild snake. Captive-breds are more used to human interaction and you'll therefore cause it less stress.
3) SNAKES ARE NOT TOYS.
4) Know your species. Pretty basic, but important. Know what snakes you're likely to encounter around your area, some are more aggressive than others etc etc etc.
5) SNAKES ARE NOT TOYS.
6) Focus on the snake. Don't answer your phone with a snake in the hand, again, you'll come off second best.
And this is probably the most important thing to remember when dealing with venomous snakes:
COMPLACENCY KILLS. Just because you've caught a hundred snakes successfully doesn't change anything.
Finally, this is obviously just a guide - I recommend attending a handling course or something similar where a professional can teach you face to face about dealing with snakes.
This guide works well in conjunction with the two other snake-related Instructables:
Snake (or Hook) Stick - which can be viewed here.
Snake Tube - which can be viewed here.
There are a few things to remember when dealing with snakes:
1) Snakes are not toys. Only catch a snake for qualified research purposes, or if you absolutely have to. Remember, it's stressful for the animal to be captured.
2) Start small. Don't try catching a 2-metre cobra on your first day out, you'll come off second best. Start with practising the wrist movements and techniques on a rubber snake or a thick piece of rope. The rope works well because if it's as thick as a snake, it reacts a little bit like one in terms of flexibility. Once you're confident in that, move onto a harmless species, and practise on it. Preferably use a specimen bred in captivity as opposed to a wild snake. Captive-breds are more used to human interaction and you'll therefore cause it less stress.
3) SNAKES ARE NOT TOYS.
4) Know your species. Pretty basic, but important. Know what snakes you're likely to encounter around your area, some are more aggressive than others etc etc etc.
5) SNAKES ARE NOT TOYS.
6) Focus on the snake. Don't answer your phone with a snake in the hand, again, you'll come off second best.
And this is probably the most important thing to remember when dealing with venomous snakes:
COMPLACENCY KILLS. Just because you've caught a hundred snakes successfully doesn't change anything.
Finally, this is obviously just a guide - I recommend attending a handling course or something similar where a professional can teach you face to face about dealing with snakes.
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Signing UpStep 1: Pinning
Snake sticks have a flat head which can be effectively used to pin down a snake before it manages to slither into cluttered areas. This feature is helpful if you're catching one in a house or somewhere where the catching process can be complicated be objects.
It also allows you to subdue the snake while people vacate the area. Having too many people around you will restrict your movement and adds a serious danger factor to the equation, always have at least a few metres around you where nobody is allowed to stand.
Never squash a snake down like this, use only enough force to keep it from slithering away.
*The snake used in these photos is not real.
It also allows you to subdue the snake while people vacate the area. Having too many people around you will restrict your movement and adds a serious danger factor to the equation, always have at least a few metres around you where nobody is allowed to stand.
Never squash a snake down like this, use only enough force to keep it from slithering away.
*The snake used in these photos is not real.
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Keep the extremity below the heart or the venom travels to the heart and you will have complications sooner rather than later. Get to a hospital immediatly. Once there - or on the way there the nurses have to shake anti venon for like 20 minutes straight losing time...Someone needs to come up with a cure for snakebites sooner , theres so many here in AZ and out in desert areas because people get curious or dumb. And dont drink water - I dont know why you think that might help dilute but it could speed up the process...who knows.
Firstly, be damn sure of the ID. The best thing to do is take a photograph or catch the snake (Don't get bitten twice though!) because it's really difficult for anyone to respond properly to "a snake bit me." the species of snake has a direct influence on the type of antivenom as well as the medical procedure they follow.
Secondly, note as much as possible. Use your cellphone's voice recorder if you can't write it down, but whatever method you use, record the location and time of the bite, time and progression of all the symptoms etc ("Bitten on left lower leg at 09H00, immediate pain and swelling, dryness of through at 09H30" that sort of thing.). Record as much as possible because that will help the medical officer to figure out the reaction times and so forth.
Better to just pin the head and pick the snake up immediately behind the head. Much better to control the head, rather than the tail.
To each his own though bud.
A note of Steve Irwin: Make absolutely no mistake - anyone who says he was careless doesn't know much about him... Coming from a herpetological background, Irwin spent his life with reptiles (He worked with his first snake at 6, and caught his first croc at 9 years old), long before becoming a TV icon. What you interpret as 'careless' is in fact an astonishing knowledge of a reptile's body language as well as how to work with them - if the snake's not threatened, it won't bite...
I've had a very similar experience... I was called to remove a brood of small snakes from our neighbour's house... I went over and spotted a small, thin snake. It was brown and had markings like a certain sand snake species that occurs in my area. Sand snakes are harmless mini constrictors - no fangs, no venom. So I don't waste time bothering with gauntlets or hook sticks and all that, I pick them out by hand... Snake after snake goes from the ceiling into the bag, only when I released the very last snake did I realise the eye had a strange pupil... Turns out I had handled an entire brood of hatchling Boomslang... One bite and I'd have been 6 feet under from internal bleeding...
Stupidity from my side - definitely! But all's well that ends well, and it makes for a good story around a camp fire.
Many people can share similar stories, which goes to show that snakes aren't monsters that go out of their way to attack people.
:) Great guide though, living in the country we get snakes often of all types its nice to have someone offer a guide on how to remove them if its required.
If you get bit get to a hospital fast. Time is against you. Bites can kill off large areas of tissue and the medical fight may turn into a horror show that lasts for years.
There's really no substitute for a professional course or lessons in how to catch snakes, but that doesn't mean we can't learn more about them! And Xeno is absolutely right, I've extracted snakes from houses to restaurants, places where one wouldn't generally expect snakes to be, learning the basics provides a stepping stone, overcoming the initial confusion of a snake encounter.
I have been to number of Herpetological expeditions with the Legendary Naturalist Rom Whitaker and Gerry Martin.
I have to give all readers a warning!
DO NOT TRY THIS FOR FUN!
Snake catching is a serious business! It becomes essential to take steps when snake comes into your bathroom! But still, calling Animal Rescuers or Local Firebrigade is always the best thing to do.
Snake bites may cause serious injuries. Snakes are not dogs to predict their behaviour. Snake are very unpredictable, and even very experiences snake catchers get bitten.
Do not try to catch a Snake Unless and Untill it's very essential. Generally local authorities are good at taking care of Snake-in-the house situations.