Voluntary snake catcher has gained a reputation as a local Steve Irwin

WHEN snakes come calling at the door and the authorities are far away, you’ve got to call Kane.

WHEN snakes come calling at the door and the authorities are far away, you’ve got to call Kane.

Wattle Grove’s own Steve Irwin is a self-taught snake catcher and reptile lover, who has been happily rescuing neighbours from the unwelcome visitors for years.

“Because I’ve always been involved with reptiles people know to call me when they have something in their yard,” Kane Durrant said.

“It’s always been a hobby of mine, animals. I grew up in Chipping Norton so I was always on the river catching snakes and lizards and it just sort of evolved from there.”

Mr Durrant, 27, runs reptile and aquatic pet supplies store Wild, which used to be based in Liverpool but is now all online.

But when he isn’t making sales, he’s on call to deal with any sneaky serpents that may have slithered into people’s homes to cool off.

Kane’s pet black-headed python.

“Wires and Sydney Snake Catchers are usually an hour away, minimum … or they’re off on public holidays.”

On a public holiday in December he was notified via Facebook of a yellow-faced whip snake, which had interrupted a pool party nearby.

“All the girls were in the house looking out the window,” Mr Durrant said, adding police had been called but didn’t know how to remove the snake. “I removed the rock and there was a yellow-faced whip snake under there. I caught it, bagged it and I took it to Cantello Reserve and released it.”

Since then, Mr Durrant has been on call with Liverpool police.

“I said ‘look, there’s licenced guys doing this’. And they said ‘yeah, but they didn’t answer their phones — you did’. So now they often call me.”

Mr Durrant, who doesn’t charge for his services, says he does it out of love for the animals and a desire to help and educate people.

“It saves the animal from being stomped on or attacked, also it stops the fear and it’s good to … show that the snake isn’t there to attack anyone, it’s just acting on pure instinct,” Mr Durrant said. “I just try and offer some education so people aren’t so scared, because it’s the ignorance that causes the fear.”

Kane has a similar passion for wild animals as the

Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin.

Despite the fact a six-year-old girl died recently after being bitten by a brown snake in Walgett, Mr Durrant said death from snake bites is rare, and the girl died because she didn’t receive first aid or treatment for hours.

While Mr Durrant is capable and has never been bitten on a job, he made it clear that people should go through official channels first if snakes or other wild animals appear.

“Normally I recommend people to call Sydney Snake Catchers or Shire Snake Catchers and they’ll come up and they charge a fee and remove the snake,” Mr Durrant said.

Mr Durrant’s wife Rachael described their house as a menagerie.

“We’ve got dogs, cats, fish, a lot of reptiles and snakes,” Mr Durrant said, adding the latter are captive bred for the pet industry.

Mr Durrant said his interest in reptiles began at five when his grandfather gave him a blue tongue lizard he found under his pigeon pen in Casula.

Kane with a snake out in the wild.

Kane at home with a pet python.

He caught his first snake — a red belly black — at 14 with a bunch of school friends at Warwick Farm Racecourse.

“I just taught myself,” he said. “It just happens; you either do it or you don’t.”

Mr Durrant said the most common snakes found locally are red belly blacks, eastern browns, yellow faced whip and marsh snakes.

They largely reside in bushy areas such as Holsworthy, Wattle Grove, Hammondville and Voyager Point.

Mr Durrant said he hopes to complete a course majoring in zoology in a few years.

He has also spent the past three months photographing local animals for a daily Instagram campaign he calls “90 Days of Summer”.