Sunday 4 December 2011

Snake catcher just a call away


సక్సెస్ న్యూస్

Snake catcher just a call away
Andhra Pradesh...Visakhapatnam 


                                  Braveheart:Snake catcher R. Kiran Kumar with the reptiles he
                                  caught in the steel plant area in Visakhapatnam

Gajuwaka;One phone call is all it takes to drive a snake out of the house. Known as the ‘snake catcher' in Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, R. Kiran Kumar is quick to respond to any panic call.

Within minutes, the unassuming man armed with a bag is on the spot and gets going. Unlike other snake catchers, Kiran, on catching the snake, does not remove the fangs of the reptile or kill it. He puts the reptile in a bag and frees it in the forest.

In the last five years, Kiran had caught more than 5,000 snakes in the city and its suburbs and released them in the forests. On an average, he gets four to five calls every day, some even from suburban areas like Tagarapuvalasa and Bhimli.

In April this year, Kiran caught a king cobra from a house in the steel plant area after the reptile slithered into the drawing room. The family members locked themselves in the adjacent room till Kiran arrived and caught the snake.

Shrinking habitat

“Snakes are increasingly being found in urban settings due to scarcity of food in the forest and shrinking of their natural habitat due to deforestation,” says Kiran, who caught 10 pythons in the city so far. He received appreciation certificates from various corporate firms for his services.

People mistake every snake to be poisonous and kill it. Only a few are poisonous and the rest are harmless, he says. A snake will not harm you unless provoked, be it poisonous or non-poisonous. The best thing to do when one sees a snake is to keep quiet and let it go its way. Call a snake catcher if it does not budge, suggests Kiran. He can be contacted on the phone number 9849140500.