Every time, there is a burst of adrenaline. 

In his six years in the reptile relocation business, Colac snake catcher Benny McNamara has been called to retrieve the slithering, cold-blooded vertebrates when they’re basking on a walking path, nestled in a bathroom or eating a frog by the lake.

“It becomes quite dangerous to handle in some scenarios, especially if you're getting them in grasses, where you can't see where the head is, and you're just blindly grabbing, which I wouldn't recommend,” he told the Brolga. 

Snake summer: The callouts began in August and include a Warrnambool man who almost stepped on a tiger snake in his bird aviary.

“It’s mainly copperheads and tiger snakes at the moment. I haven't caught a brown snake yet, they'll come out a little bit more when it's a lot hotter,” McNamara said. “Truthfully, I've had more calls in winter than springtime so far.”

Winter activity: McNamara reckons the warmer winter is enticing snakes out earlier than usual. 

“Usually it’s a three-month break, but this year there was nothing for a few weeks and now it’s coming in again.” He described this as the “calm before the storm”.

When do they come out? Around 25 degrees Celsius is the ideal weather for snakes to warm themselves, making those days McNamara’s busiest.

“The snakes actually cook themselves in like 30 degree heat, so when it's really hot, we don't tend to get a lot of callouts until the evening because tiger snakes are nocturnal, so they come out at night looking for food,” he said.

Late night calls: Earlier this year, he received a call at 10:30pm from a couple in Port Campbell, who had purchased an old church to convert into a house.

“It was the middle of winter - I thought it was a prank to be honest,” McNamara recalled.

“We went down there looking for it, couldn't find it for about an hour or so, and then finally, it was in a tricky little spot, in a baptism bath that was in the ground. We didn’t get home until two in the morning.”

Where do they go? By law, snakes must be relocated 5km from where they are found, into habitat with food to hunt. 

What not to do: For the most part, McNamara said snakes want to be left alone and aren’t likely to attack unless they feel threatened, which is an unfortunately common occurrence in McNamara’s jobs.

“Some people pick up sticks and stones and actually throw them at the snake, that's when snakes are going to become defensive, because something's trying to kill them. People still to this day will go to the shovel, which is disappointing,” he said. 

“Nine times out of 10, they're chill and they're trying to flee and get away. Their last resort is to defend themselves, which they don't want to have to do.”

What to do: Instead, McNamara advises anyone who comes across a snake to just stand still and allow the snake to pass. 

“Keeping tabs on the snake and where it is can be really helpful, especially when calling a snake catcher. Even getting a photo of the snake so the snake catcher knows what kind of snake it is as well.”

If a snake moves out of sight, McNamara said the most common areas they will go to hide include wood piles, scrap heaps or gardens, especially ferns and agapanthus.

Images: Benny McNamara