Long-serving snake catcher forced into retirement

After nine days in intensive care recovering from a bite from an eastern brown, he has to say no.

Paul Newcombe has safely relocated hundreds of venomous snakes from bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens and yards - out of beds, washing machines, dishwashers, fireplaces and cars.

Most of them are just looking for a cool place to retreat in summer, drawn in by the breeze from our air conditioning coming through a door that's not quite shut - and for more than 20 years Paul's been responding to calls to remove them.

"I tried to retire when I was 60 - I told my wife I would," he said.

"But people kept ringing me up. You've got to go, haven't you, you just can't say I'm not coming."

Paul has been the first point of call in Forbes and Parkes, but also Condobolin, Grenfell, Manildra and everywhere in between.

Becoming licensed and insured as a snake catcher was a natural progression for someone who's loved and been involved with animals all his life, from snakes and other reptiles to birds and fish.

In those years, Paul has worked with emergency services and vets, as well as schools and increasingly through social media to identify snakes and educate people about them.

Australians love a snake story and he has hundreds.

In Paul's line of work, the best case scenario is when someone has seen the snake going into a room and shut the door to contain it.

"I go in and shut the door behind me, just start working my way through the room," he explains.

"Behind the cupboard, in the bed, you always find it."

Yes, the bed: in one case the snake had curled up under the doona on a child's bed.

He's also removed snakes that have come into the house in washing baskets or even in the nappy bag after a day out.

"They've just gone in there because it's cool in summer by mistake," Paul said.

"They're just as scared of us as we are of them but if they're cornered they'll strike - they've got nowhere else to go."

Paul's also always responded to calls about snakes in the town centre or high traffic town areas - he caught eight snakes in 30 minutes by Lake Forbes during the last flood.

In the many years and handling hundreds of snakes he's only sustained three eastern brown snake bites, and two from black snakes.

This last one only took a moment of distraction - his boot was caught in a fence - but after two weeks in hospital he's still regaining strength and he's on doctor's orders not to put himself in that position again.

A brown snake bite is not to be taken lightly.

In the first days after being bitten Paul lost the use of his hands, his eyesight was reduced to blurry shadows and he couldn't swallow. The venom damaged his kidneys and he was bleeding under his skin.

He had first antivenom and then dialysis to save his life - and the latest tests show he's making a good recovery.

But just how seriously ill Paul became is why he's always been so passionate about educating people how to behave around snakes and how to respond if someone is bitten - or even if they think they might have been.

If there's a good distance between you and the snake just back away slowly, keeping your eye on it, and walk off.

"If you're very close to a snake - I've done videos on it - as long as you don't move it will not bite you," Paul said.

The snake might be reared up when you first notice it - you've been moving towards it - but Paul explains that if you're patient it will back down and move on.

"He might hang for five minutes - it'll be the longest five minutes of your life - but he will slide away and as soon as he slides away just walk off," Paul said.

The experienced snake catcher can certainly sympathise: he's had snakes go up his trouser leg after he released it. Standing still and waiting it out is the only option.

"After a while he thinks it's not that good in here, just slides back down," Paul says.

He can chuckle about it in hindsight - but these days he always wears long pants with an elasticised ankle.

Having good snake bite bandages - Paul keeps Smart Bandages at hand as they have a diagram on them to help you get the tension right - and knowing first aid is critical.

If you get bitten on the hand or arm wrap it to the armpit, if you're bitten on the leg or foot wrap it to the groin

Since getting the Smart Bandages Paul has found the required tension is firmer than he thought - but not so firm it cuts off circulation to your fingers.

Then stay still, particularly keeping that affected limb immobilised.

"You've got to be careful with kids - even if they think they've been bitten wrap it up," Paul said.

You need to get to hospital, it's recommended you phone 000 and ask for an ambulance.

Snake identification is important to get the right antivenom, if the patient has been envenomated, and identifying snakes is just one of the roles Paul has undertaken for years.

And now? He'll continue with his pythons, birds and other reptiles but venomous snakes are most definitely off limits.