Riverina 'snake man' retires after a career in which he was bitten five times

Tony Davis has been known around the Riverina as “The Snake Man” for more than 20 years, but in the Chinese zodiac’s Year of the Snake, he is retiring.

Well, as much as retirees these days stop working.

“I’ve slowed down to what I used to do, but I’m still there if needed,” Mr Davis said.

“Depending on where or what the situation is. If the snake’s in a house, yes, I’ll give it consideration. If it was out in the backyard, just let it go and it can continue on.”

The decision to retire from full-time snake catching is literally a matter of life and death. In 20 years, Mr Davis has been bitten five times, three of them envenomated, meaning the snakes injected poison into his body through the bites. Doctors warned if Tony got bitten again, he would probably die.

“A lot of people think the more times you get bitten by a snake, the more immune you get to it. But it goes the other way; the more you get bitten, the less immunity you’ve got to it,” Mr Davis said.

The decision to retire came after Mr Davis had a medical episode whilst driving to a snake call in Lake Albert, Wagga Wagga. His car ploughed through a brick home and ended up in the kitchen. Mr Davis sustained a broken back which has severely limited his movement. Combined with the effects of multiple snakebites, his health is fragile.

Tony is now the subject of a long-term study into snakebite and survival.

Clinical researcher into toxicology at Mater Hospital Newcastle, Professor Geoffery Isbister has been studying poisonings and the effectiveness of antidotes.

“I said to him, ‘Well, what do you do if you’re bitten?’” Mr Davis said.

“And Professor Isbister said, ‘Do what the black fella did 200 years ago’. I laughed and said to him, ‘I’m sorry, Geoff, but I wasn’t around 200 years ago. What did they do?’

“The professor said they would find a tree by the riverbank and sit still under it for two or three days and let their body heal,” Mr Davis added.

“The only reason people virtually die from a snakebite is through movement but try telling that to somebody who’s frightened and has just been bit (sic) by a snake. Sitting still in not the first thing they’d do.”

How it started

When asked what got him into snake catching in the first place, he laughed and said one word, “Stupidity”.

Mr Davis was originally a train driver for TG Harper.

“When I moved to Wagga, [my wife and I] went down to Bob’s Birdz-N-Pets to get some stuff for our blue tongues [lizards]. The owner Darren [Wood] invited me over to his place to have a look at his snakes and I took the missus ’round with me. When I said that I wouldn’t mind having a snake, she said, ‘Over my dead body’, but anyhow, I got a python from Darren, and it just went from there.”

Luckily, his employer was remarkably flexible and let him leave to catch the snakes when called.

Mr Davis and Mr Wood started up a reptile club together in Wagga before the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) approached them to take over snake and reptile calls.

“Darren and I decided we’d do a course for snake catching and then Darren got tied up with his business and it was left to me to do all the snake calls, and one thing led to another, and here I am today,” Mr Davis said.

Monster snakes

Tony Davis has kept a record of every snake call he’s had since he started in 2002. He’s travelled across the Riverina, including Griffith, Narrandera and Wagga Wagga. In 23 years, he has seen snakes several metres long.

“One time I caught a snake over two metres long out at Boman Industrial Estate, but the biggest snake was out at the Sewage Treatment Plant on Vincent Road, Wagga. The workers knew it was there, and it was sort of their pet that lived under a walkway and caught the water rats.

“But they were doing extensions, and they were worried about the other workers coming on-site who might want to kill it, so they called me.

“It was five and a half kilos in weight, and at least 12 foot [3.66 metres] long and it was one of the quietest and friendliest snakes I’d ever seen.”

Mr Davis said he would spend his time with family, his collecting hobbies, and his beloved snakes that he cared for at home.

New blood

Filling the need for a snake catcher is Josh Thompson, who is a new father to an eight-month-old, and, like Tony Davis, also started after an interest in reptiles.

“There are lots of rules about snake catching because snakes are protected by law in Australia,” Josh said.

“You must be properly trained, and the snake has to be relocated no more than 25 kilometres from the collection site.”

Killing a snake is illegal in Australia and can result in a $10,000 fine. It’s also incredibly dangerous, meaning snake catchers are critical for public safety.

The call-out fee is $200, which is on par with tradies coming out to our homes.

Mr Thompson said some people didn’t understand the cost, which he said was more than fair, especially when he was facing deadly snakes.

“To answer a call-out, I have to stop whatever I’m doing with my family and go out as quickly as I can so these families can go back to being safe. It sometimes takes hours of travel plus relocating these dangerous snakes, before I can go back to my family,” he said.

And with an average day involving around six snake calls, snake catchers always have to be on guard.