BREEDING season has sprung and a local snake catcher has issued a timely warning for residents to be aware of the slithery creatures as they surface from their winter sleep.

Elizabeth Vale’s Roger Atkinson has been in the snake catching business for almost 30 years and says the peak mating season usually occurs from October to December.

However, an unseasonably wet and cold start to spring has meant a quieter start to callouts for the owner of Ace Snake Catchers.

“This year has meant a slow start because the weather is all over the place. Usually snakes like 23C to 28C,” Mr Atkinson said.

“Males would still be out looking for females, but not getting around as much. As it warms up, I would say there will be a really busy November.”

The confessed Hulk Hogan lookalike is highly regarded throughout the snake world and well-known in the local community, servicing areas spanning from Playford, Gawler, Adelaide Plains and Barossa Valley up to Blackwood and Mount Pleasant.

Mr Atkinson said 90 per cent of local callouts involved brown snakes – the second most venomous in the world – and that red-bellied black snakes more commonly frequent Barossa areas.

“With brown snakes, 95 per cent of the cases there’s no pain or swelling associated with the bite,” he said.

“Sometimes people don’t realise they have been bitten and it usually takes 20 minutes to half an hour before symptoms happen, so during that time you’ve got to assume you’ve been envenomated and get to hospital.

“The red belly is the opposite. They cause moderate to severe pain or swelling but a bite isn’t life-threatening. It causes… like a gang green, which can then lead to amputation.”

Over his career, Mr Atkinson has several standout achievements, including being the first person to milk and return venom samples of Pseudonaja Pailseri – a new species of snake – and working as a snake handler on the popular television series McLeod's Daughters.

He also featured on a Robson Green ‘wild Australia’ series which focussed on extreme snake catching and is currently working on another film project to share snake education with an American audience.

“I used to do a lot of talks at schools and libraries, but the government has made it difficult to do that now,” Mr Atkinson said.

“I’m not even allowed to keep a brown snake now if I catch one.

“Even going catching at places, I’ve got to jump through all these hoops and follow regulations and it’s a time issue when you’re looking for a snake.”

In his proudly kept snake room, Mr Atkinson boasts 15 snakes, with an albino Darwin carpet python his favourite of the collection.

In his 28 years of snake catching, Mr Atkinson said he is yet to be bitten by a venomous snake; however, a few temperamental pythons have sunk their fangs into him from time to time.

He said 10 years working for Barossa Venom Supplies offered a wealth of experience with different snakes, and offered advice should someone encounter one:

If you see a snake

“If you have seen the snake from a reasonable distance don’t approach it. Let it go where it wants to go because they are deaf, but they pick up on vibrations,” Mr Atkinson said.

“If you came across one say within a metre from you, the body language that he shows you – rearing up like a cobra, neck in an ‘s’ pattern, he is telling you ‘back off because I’m ready to strike’, so your best bet is to freeze, stand still and let him back off first because movement is what triggers them.

“When snakes strike, they have a choice of headbutting you, biting you and not releasing venom or biting you and releasing their venom.

“A bite could be two puncture marks, one mark or a scratch. If it has broken the surface of the skin, you need to get to hospital. Locally I would recommend the Lyell Mac.

“Don’t go to a GP, you’ve got to get to hospital.

“A sign of a snake bite is that your eyelids will start to look droopy. It’s important not to drive yourself to the hospital because you will be at heightened risk of having a car accident.”

Mr Atkinson offers a 24-hour service and can be contacted on 0415 928 500.

Possible symptoms of a brown snake bite:

Headache

Bleeding or oozing from wound

Nausea/vomiting

Abdominal pain

Drooping eyelids

Collapsed/unconscious state

Internal bleeding

Cardiac arrest

First aid for snake bite:

Keep the patient at rest.

Do not wash the bite area.

Apply a firm bandage over the bite site bandaging from fingers to shoulder/toes to thigh.

Place a splint e.g. a long piece of timber along the limb and secure with another bandage, if possible.

Reassure the patient, keep them calm and check their breathing/pulse constantly.

Sit patient on floor or lay them down.

Get medical attention urgently by ringing 000.

Locally, best to head to Lyell McEwin Hospital