Ven catch/ remove course

[SteveNT]

So I had 12 Indigenous Rangers lined up to do a ven catch/ relocate course at Crocodylus Park. As we got closer to the day people suddendly had other important things to do, sick relatives, trapped behind floodwaters, etc, etc, ha ha

Ended up with 3 Rangers and 3 other NLC staff, self included.

First we practised bagging some Darwin carpets & bhps

no stress whatsoever

it's in the bag

felt pretty silly hooking and bagging a bhp smaller than the one at home

Our audience

Then we played with the western browns and king browns etc. There were many funny moments but no-one was laughing ha ha




The course was great and the guys had a ball, suddenly I have another 20 wanting to do the course.

Dont think the snakes are as keen though

 

[imported_Varanus]

Ha, ha...second pic's a classic! Everyone has a snake face. Thanks for sharing. So these guys will be removing snakes in communities now? No chance of getting them to tail then?! Great result with another 20 wanting to sign up; they must have been happy with your efforts.

 

[SteveNT]

Under insurance conditions no tailing allowed although Chris did show everyone how to do it. Yes they will be relocating the vens once I have all their gear organised.

 

[phatty]

do you organize the course i didn't think they did these in Darwin i thought you had to go to Alice for some reason

 

[SteveNT]

do you organize the course i didn't think they did these in Darwin i thought you had to go to Alice for some reason

It's run from Alice with a local guy doing the training in the Top End. I can pm you contact details if you want?

 

[joelysmoley]

Thats so cool, i want to learn how to handle vens in the future.

 

[phatty]

It's run from Alice with a local guy doing the training in the Top End. I can pm you contact details if you want?

yea that would be good dont know if i want to catch to many vents thou but being out semi rural it might be a good idea

 

[Stevo2]

Not a thong in sight... pussies.. :lol:

 

[Bananapeel]

Fantastic looking course! That face cracked me up. Nice to know there are more people understanding vens and their behaviour.i am desperate to do a handling course. Not so much for relocation purposes but just to gain experience particularly for when I keep vens. Just gotta wait 4 yrs. I've already asked for it as an 18th bday prezzie.

 

[Echiopsis]

Are bins and tongs standard in the NT? Be good to see more hook and hoop bag usage, safer for handler and snake.

Good to see some TO's getting close to snakes. Last TO's I worked with sat back and threw rocks over my shoulder at a snake Id just caught :lol:

 

[SteveNT]

Are bins and tongs standard in the NT? Be good to see more hook and hoop bag usage, safer for handler and snake.

Good to see some TO's getting close to snakes. Last TO's I worked with sat back and threw rocks over my shoulder at a snake Id just caught :lol:

Yea we did plenty of both.

And it is very hard to get countrymen to get close to snakes but as you can see, it can be done, It took me 3 hours once to get a group to handle a 10 inch Burtons legless lizard ha ha.

 

[eipper]

tongs ....the quick way for inexperienced people to get bitten!

 

[SteveNT]

tongs ....the quick way for inexperienced people to get bitten!

As demanded by the insurance company.

The trainer did plenty of tail and hook work but emphasised that he was not "teaching" us this method as there would be tears with the insurance mob.



So......bins are unsafe.....tongs are unsafe.......
I'm trying hard to A) stop countrymen killing snakes and relocate them instead and B) find appropriate training (especially a trainer who understands the cross cultural issues with countrymen and wildlife).

This is the best I could find. Perhaps all these experts would like to come up and provide some accredited training?

 

[eipper]

Steve,

re: "This is the best I could find. Perhaps all these experts would like to come up and provide some accredited training?"

I run courses, with insurance in QLD. I work mainly in the industrial/commercial sector but do occasionally run courses in the private sector. The nature of my work demands besides the obvious permits and insurance approved oh&s and environmental safety plans.

As Jordan alluded to there serious hazards using bins and a whole suite of issues regarding tongs. I show both and explain why both are fundamentally flawed. Both are more hazardous for people inexperienced around snakes even though they seem safe and herein lies the problem.

Cheers,
Scott

 

[SteveNT]

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PM me if you are interested in providing better training. My job is to to get the best possible training for these 200+ Rangers and my budget extends to bringing in experts from interstate but of course I need to justify the expense. We just switched to a Maritime training organisation in SA because the local training providers were a bit too relaxed. Costs a lot more but I wont be a party to rubbish training.

I assume details of insurance cover can be negotiated. I was just genuinely thrilled to get these three guys to pass the course. They're not going to lunge at the first snake they see ha ha. I'm not even debriefing until late next week. It was a very confronting experience for them.

But as said previously I already have another 20 putting their hands up for relocation training. And I want the best. If that's you PM me why.

cheers
Steve

I havent bought any equipment yet because I am aware of the controversies.

 

[BIGBANG]

View attachment 279086View attachment 279087

Yea we did plenty of both.

And it is very hard to get countrymen to get close to snakes but as you can see, it can be done, It took me 3 hours once to get a group to handle a 10 inch Burtons legless lizard ha ha.

know the feeling mate, the area i live in is full of farmers that have been bought up with the attitude of kill all snakes even if in the middle of a paddock nowhere near a house. I am wanting to do an education day here, not so much teaching them to handle snakes but more show them that snakes are not evil things out to kill any human they come across. i would love to be able to do this but at the moment i only have pythons that i keep so would be pointless to show them the pythons as we dont have any around here, only browns, blacks and tigers, i would love to be able to keep a couple of the ones i relocate to include them in a show

 

[Barbarossa]

Sigh, how i miss the Territory, didnt get to handle any snakes there, but i did grab a wild salty at shady camp.

Still got my hands so did alright.

 

[Bananapeel]

^^^ lemme guess. It was about 30cm long? :lol:

 

[Barbarossa]

^^^ lemme guess. It was about 30cm long? :lol:

Naw was just under 2 meteres or there abouts i grabbed his tail and he turned and bared his teeth, so went and got a rope and as i was putting it over his nose he/she ran off into a pool of water, wasnt going chasing it.

But ive touched one at least wasnt in a net was in a mud pool trapped at low tide. Next time im up there going to catch one.

 

[SteveNT]

Gets the other way around sometimes. Can become part of the food chain hereabouts.