Raymond Hoser is the snake catcher!
He's been catching and handling venomous snakes for over 50 years.
He is now got an established reputation as the best snake handler in the business.
However Raymond Hoser does not treat snakes or reptiles as a business.
Instead he is a conservation icon who views snakes, reptiles and all other animals as a collaborative project that needs to be done for their own future survival.
As author of the best-selling book, Endangered Animals of Australia, Raymond Hoser has created a whole generation of readers with a keen interest in wildlife and its conservation.
But in his home town of Melbourne and Victoria, Raymond Hoser is best known as the Melbourne snake catcher.
Snake removal and snake handler work has been what Raymond has done since being Australia's first ever government-licensed snake catcher.
At first most people thought that the only good snake was a dead snake, but as the years have progressed, Raymond Hoser's lone voice advocating for the snakes became one of many and now most Australians realise that snakes need to be protected.
Although Raymond Hoser gets paid as a snake catcher, he often tells potential clients not to deal with him.
Half the time he tells people to ignore the snake they have found and to simply let it move on.
Alternatively when a snake catcher call comes in, Raymond Hoser will pass it on to a closer snake catcher.
As it happens most snake catchers in Australia have been trained and educated by Raymond Hoser, so when he refers you onto someone else, you know you will be in good hands.
Snake catcher work is not dangerous when you are properly trained.
Raymond Hoser, the snake master, has a perfect safety record spanning more than 50 years.
Most of his students and graduates have a similar safety score.
If you do need a snake identified, a snake handler or to call a snake catcher, for snake removal, the best phone number to contact the snake catcher is 0412-777-211.
And remember that snakes only bite of attacked, so if you leave the snake alone, your safety is effectively guaranteed, no matter how deadly the snake is.
