It’s been another busy snake season for snake catcher Liv Dykstra. The Whitemore mum of three, who works in admin at the Launceston Eye Hospital and is also studying Community Services at TAFE, has had to work more on co-ordinating other snake catchers to meet demand in the north of the state, rather than try to attend all the call-outs herself.
“Last season I would have easily caught and relocated more than 100 snakes, and from what I’ve heard they’ve been around in places they’ve rarely been seen before – so it’s been even busier,” she said.
Liv has been catching and relocating snakes for the past seven years, and while her two daughters think she’s “crazy”, her 14-year-old son Oliver has learned the art and is joining her at most call-outs.
She said when all of her children were at school she started to think about what she was doing that was just for her. “Being a mum doesn’t usually give you an adrenaline kick and I wanted that without jumping out of a plane,” she laughed.
“Both my brother and I were terrified of snakes so we decided to sign up for a snake handling course.
“We grew up on the land, where the attitude was ‘the only good snake is a dead snake’ and ‘if you see a snake, run’.”
Having gained some knowledge and a new-found respect for the slithering reptiles, Liv started shadowing other snake catchers and helping with demonstrations of snake handling.
With the aim of starting her own snake catching business, she completed a start-up business course with the Van Diemen Project and then travelled to Melbourne to obtain a formal snake handling qualification and to learn to handle more varieties of snakes.
“We only have the three species here, the copperhead, the tiger snake and the white lipped, and they all have similar characteristics, whereas the eastern brown is a different kettle of fish,” she said.
“Having an education about snakes calms you down, the fear disappears and you realise they’re not actually scary. Mind you if I spot a huntsman I want to burn the house down!”
Liv said that catching snakes for a hobby required more skills than people realise – and it’s not just about handling snakes.
“I’ve had to move fridges, pull apart door jambs, move wood stacks, crawl under cars, clean out sheds, it’s quite physical at times,” she said.
“For two days some people had been trying to find a snake that has probably climbed into their car in the Central Highlands and they spotted it when they reached home in Cressy.
“They even went through a car wash hoping that would flush it out.
“I ended up laying under the car for half an hour trying to think like a snake, where would I go, and then dismantled the taillight housing to find it curled up inside.
“Another time some people realised there was one on top of their fuel tank while they were parked in the Mitre10 carpark – it took two people to get that one out.”
Liv said that call-outs in the Northern Midlands and Meander Valley area were nine times out of 10 for a copperhead. She reminded people that Tasmanian snakes aren’t actually dormant in winter, just not quite as active, and that they are happy to hunt at night.
“There’s been copperheads spotted in the snow on Ben Lomond,” she said.
“So it’s best to be mindful that they’re out there all year round.”