Dan is genuinely empathetic to their plight, as snakes are increasingly displaced to make way for development, leading to more human-to-snake interactions.
“They get into some weird places – most of the time it’s getting away from people and pets, especially in the Barossa where vineyard and paddocks have been removed for houses,” says Dan.
Those ‘weird’ places include service stations, car engines, camper trailers, weight scales, septic tanks and even a winery urinal.
“A couple (of) weeks ago I caught an eastern brown on a roof, popping out of the capping,” says Dan.
“While they are classed as terrestrial and don’t go out of their way to climb, if they’ve got to or want to, they can.”
As a father and pet owner himself, Dan takes his responsibility for licensed snake removal seriously and will never compromise safety. In fact, he’s been known to spend four hours waiting for the right moment to safely retrieve a snake.
“You’ll see some snake catchers grab snakes and carry on like a pork chop, which gets snakes fired up even more,” Dan says.
“I’m nice and calm and even when I have them by the tail, I’ll let them go into the bag themselves.
“I don’t film myself unless the snake is self-contained and I don’t put anything at risk to get a photo or video, but I do find it important to show snake behaviour and give people insight into the real situation.
“I don’t try to change people’s minds, to make them like snakes or love them like I do, but just get people to understand them – that’s my job in a way.”