Humans are not the only ones to enjoy the return of warmer weather; snakes do too. RICHARD HOLMES talks to local snake catcher Emile Rossouw about his fascination for these reptiles.
Reptiles have been Emile Rossouw’s passion since his childhood in Die Boord. Today, when he’s not out on a call, you’ll find him at home in Stellenbosch with his family and pet snakes like Fanie, the Gaboon viper.
For most of us, it is our worst nightmare come true. A yellow- black tail disappearing into the wood pile beneath the braai. A fat puff adder curled up beneath the dog’s basket. A commotion in the trees that turns out to be a boomslang on the hunt. But for snake catcher Emile Rossouw, it’s all in a day’s work.
In the height of summer, Emile whose real day job is in property, is always ready to take a frantic call. On the end of the line? Someone in Stellenbosch with a venomous snake in their home.
In the past year, Emile (@stellenbosch_snake_removals) has blown up on social media, his almost 32 000 Instagram followers enthralled by his snake captures in and around Stellenbosch.
Growing up in Die Boord where their family home backed onto an open field, he and his brother would spend days catching snakes. When he turned 12, his parents finally allowed him to buy his own pet snake. “From then on, it was over,” he says and laughingly points at the pet snakes he keeps in his home in De Zalze. “I love animals in general, but I’ve always been fascinated by snakes and creepy crawlies!” Learning about snakes from local experts and volunteering at Animal Zone in Klapmuts taught Emile all he needed to know about handling reptiles. At one stage he kept more than 40 highly venomous snakes – and a hefty monitor lizard – in his bedroom at home.
Word soon got out and, at the age of 15, he became the person to call if you had a snake on the property and wanted it gone. Today, as Stellenbosch expands and development encroaches into the natural areas around town, he is as busy as ever. In the height of snake season – the hot summer months from October to March – Emile’s phone can ring up to six times a day from locals needing help.
“WITHIN THE FIRST FEW SECONDS, I HAVE A VERY GOOD IDEA OF HOW A SNAKE IS GOING TO BEHAVE. BUT IF I DON’T GET IT RIGHT, I NEED TO KNOW HOW TO REACT.”
Watch a few of his videos and you’ll soon wonder why he’s not wearing any protective equipment. He can be seen climbing trees and crawling into cupboards wearing just a T-shirt, jeans and flip-flops. And carrying a snake hook.
“It’s easy for people to say I’m being reckless, but that’s because they don’t understand snake behaviour,” says Emile. “It’s a little like Newton’s law of action and reaction. If I move aggressively, the snake is going to come back aggressively and try and bite me. It takes time to learn behaviour, but what’s most important is that if I am calm and move slowly, the snake will be calm. The only exception is a boomslang. Then you need to move quickly; otherwise they will disappear into the trees and you never catch them.”
He is quick to admit that snakes can be unpredictable and, while it’s easy to generalise about snake behaviour, he always focuses on the exception to the rule. “Within the first few seconds, I have a very good idea of how a snake is going to behave. But if I don’t get it right, I need to know how to react. And that’s not something you can learn in a course. It’s all about years of experience. Every time I catch a snake, it’s a different scenario.”
Remarkably, Emile has been bitten by a venomous snake only once: a Cape cobra captured outside the tasting room of a Stellenbosch wine farm. Although he spent a day in intensive care as a precaution, it was a ‘dry’ bite – no venom was injected – and he was home the next day.
That bite was a rare misstep in an otherwise simple retrieval. Others haven’t been so easy.
Emile was recently called out to deal with a Cape cobra under a house on stilts. The snake was hiding in the narrow gap where the house met the hillside. “I had to crawl in with my headlamp,” he recalls. “As I approached, the cobra was hooding and struck at me a few times. But as soon as it turned, I pulled it with the hook and grabbed its tail. But then I had to crawl back out of this narrow space, dragging a huge cobra behind me! And it was one of the biggest cobras I’d ever caught!”
Having caught a snake, Emile returns it to a wilderness area as close as possible to the point of capture, while minimising the likelihood of the snake returning to a built-up area. He is certified by CapeNature, Stellenbosch Municipality and the University of Stellenbosch to capture and release snakes in and around town.
If the snake is injured, he’ll work with local vets and return the snake to full health before releasing it.
Although Emile does not charge for capturing snakes, he usually requests a nominal call-out fee of R500 to cover the transport costs of capture and release.
Remarkably, many Stellenbosch residents refuse to pay and would rather kill or capture the snake themselves, risking being bitten in the process.
“It’s frustrating because I definitely don’t make money from capturing snakes,” says Emile. “It’s actually costing me money to drive out and capture the snake, then drive home, then go out again to release the snake.” For residents without the means to contribute, he gladly removes the snakes for free to ensure they are unharmed.
“Some housing estates will cover the cost for me to come and remove the snake, which is fantastic, but I’d really like to see this included as a municipal service,” he says. “Not only do snakes keep rat and mouse populations in check, but they are also food for a lot of other animals, such as mongooses and owls. They are so important for our environment.”