Simon Keys and Siouxsie Gillett wake up every morning ready to catch snakes.
For most people, this is a dreadful thought, but for the pair, it’s something they can’t get enough of.
The snake catchers are currently filming another slithery season of the ever popular reality show, "Snakes In The City".
While "Snake City" can be seen on National Geographic Wild featuring them and other snake catchers like Neville Wolmarans, Jason Arnold, Byron Zimmerman and Nick Evans.
Simon and Siouxsie have been in the city for a decade now and during this time the progress to save these misunderstood reptiles have been successful.
“We’ve been lucky to be given this platform for 10 years and we’ve used it to educate people on snakes. Rather than killing them, people know that help is readily available to get the snake away from them and to safety,” said Simon.
The duo were unable to say much about the currently filming, but Siouxsie did say that the new season is really entertaining.
“The filming is going so well. We always end up in bizarre situations and the captures are always different. Not so long ago we were in a sewage pit trying to capture a snake. That was my best moment,” said Siouxsie.
The pair say that they capture snakes for "Snake In The City" all around Durban.
“We’re everywhere. Common places are Westville, Reservoir Hills, Bluff, Chatsworth. Sometimes we get to the place and the snake has escaped. But about 95 percent of the time we always find and capture it,” they said.
The current show on National Geographic Wild, “Snake City” has already been aired in 117 countries.
While the show delivers the adrenaline-fuelled ride that makes for good television, it’s underlying purpose is to save the snakes that have so few human friends.
With over 2500 successful catches between them, Simon and Siouxsie are passionate about the planet’s creatures and simply love what they do.
“We love helping snakes out, often saving them from certain death, but we also love working with the team to educate people through the captures. Snakes play such an important role in the ecosystem, and people tend to forget that they do a great service to us by keeping rodent populations down. Creatures have a right to be on the planet, and we see our role as helping to educate people about this through the series. The more we as humans understand, the less afraid we become of something.” said Simon.
The team is available to attend to calls from people in the greater Durban area, who have a snake that needs to be saved, removed and relocated.
There is no charge for a call out, and the caller may even be lucky enough to end up on TV.
The contact number is 063 234 6932.