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MOSSEL BAY NEWS & VIDEO - Imagine rescuing snakes. Certainly it is an unusual occupation.
Hartenbos snake catcher Johan (Barrie) Barnard has been interested in snakes his whole life.
He has rescued 56 snakes in the Mossel Bay area. If one kills a snake the fine is about R5 000, Barnard says, so it is best to get someone to rescue it.
Explaining how he became interested in this activity, he says: "My father was a snake catcher. He worked with snakes his whole life long. He was in the Simons Town and Muizenberg area - the official snake catcher for that area. So because my father did that, I was used to snakes."
Barnard grew up in George and then Bellville. He has been in Hartenbos since 1990.
He says most of the snakes he has caught in the Mossel Bay area have been puffadders. There have been a few night adders and brown house snakes too.
Barnard explains that to be a snake catcher one must have done an advanced course in different ways of handling different snakes.
He did his at Butterfly World at Stellenbosch.
"I am a pensioner," he says. "When I went on pension I began snake catching. I am now 63." Barnard used to work for SARS in George.
Watch a video below:
Extremely predictable
"Few people understand snakes. Like any animal you get the rogue ones, but most snakes are extremely predictable.
"I am very serious about the conservation of snakes. I don't keep snakes in cages at home because I believe they should be free in nature.
"There are various places where you set them free. You can't set them all free in one place because that place will become overpopulated.
"Also, a snake such as a cobra will eat a puffadder and other snakes, so you have to set them free in different places." Barnard explains that besides having done an advanced course, one must also have a permit in order to catch snakes. This is renewed every year at Cape Nature.
Johan (Barrie) Barnard with a Cape cobra.
Barnard's hobby is 24/7. "Once I had to catch a snake at 02:00 in the morning," he says.
He does this work on a donation basis. If you need him to rescue a snake from your home, call him on 071 178 6746. You can also call Mossel Bay Fire and Disaster Management (044 606 5107 or 044 606 5121).
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