Jamie Tanson relocating a snake.
Jamie Tanson has always been fascinated by snakes. He has owned hundreds in the past and although he doesn’t have any as pets at the moment, he has been called upon by several residents to remove them from some very interesting places this summer.
So far he has removed 3 snakes from twin town homes. Each in a different location of the house, including a lounge room, a bedroom and a kitchen. It’s enough to make your hair stand up to think that halfway through your cornflakes a snake may slither past. He said “Snakes are looking for water and people should be careful where they have water for pets outside.”
When it comes to snakes, Jamie said 9 out of 10 people who get bitten are trying to kill a snake and that it is just better to let it pass through and get away. This advice goes out the window he said when they do make their way into a house. He said he is happy to help the older members of the community with getting rid of a snake as they are often unable to remove them themselves. However, as he works in Canberra he isn’t always around when someone may need him and advises to call local authorities.
“There is a shortage of snake catchers in the district with myself and another man looking after a very large area. When releasing snakes, Jamie takes them far enough away so that he will “never have to catch the same snake twice.” “A smaller snake is more dangerous than a larger snake. A large snake may bite you but they don’t normally inject as much venom as a smaller snake. A smaller snake will bite several times if possible and use up all of their venom because they are not mature yet. A larger snake will normally send a signal, to piss off, leave me alone.”
If bitten he said “Remain calm and call the ambulance.” Jamie has been bitten once in his life by a small brown snake when he was a child and once on the hand in his adult years, however, he has not been bitten during removing or catching snakes. Having come across so many snakes in his time he has certainly done very well.
