The weather is heating up and snake catcher Ben Jeffers has been busy.
The Burrill Lake resident has relocated several snakes in recent weeks, one from a public toilet in Ulladulla and another from a kitchen pantry.
While he understands most people don’t want to find a snake when they go to grab their breakfast cereal, Mr Jeffers is on a mission to educate the public on snakes.
“The biggest misconception is ‘a good snake is a dead snake’,” he said.
“The older generation in particular seem to think that all snakes need to be killed but that’s not the case.”
Mr Jeffers said the simplest solution is to call him and he’ll relocate the snake.
All snakes must legally be released between four and five kilometres from where they’re originally caught.
“Just don’t try and move the snake, go near it or kill it,” Mr Jeffers said.
Ulladulla and Lake Conjola have seen the most snake sightings this season.
“The biggest misconception is ‘a good snake is a dead snake’.”
- -Ben Jeffers
The majority of snakes Mr Jeffers relocates are red belly black snakes and diamond pythons.
Mr Jeffers has been a snake catcher for around six years and in that time has only had two calls in regards to a brown snake sighting.
Mr Jeffers said while snakes are being spotted now, they’ve been a bit slower to show up this season.
“They usually start appearing around the middle of October but it’s been cooler for longer this season,” he said.
“One season I had over 100 calls which was the busiest I’ve been.”
Mr Jeffers offered some tips for reducing the likelihood of a snake taking up residency in your backyard.
The yard should be kept clean and grass needs to be regularly mown to ensure it’s as short as possible.
Mr Jeffers said it’s particularly important to keep edges short as snakes often use this avenue to travel undetected.
Any firewood or building materials should be kept off the ground, ideally with at least a 10 centimetre gap between the ground.
“All these things are about making it uncomfortable as possible for snakes to live there,” Mr Jeffers said.
Mr Jeffers encouraged anyone needing a snake to be relocated to contact him on 0410 377 052.
