Wagga reptile catcher Josh Thompson in demand upon snake season

Mr Thompson started Josh's Reptile Relocation service on September 1 - just in time for snake season and he has already seen a huge demand for his service.

In NSW it is illegal to kill or harm a snake, which Mr Thompson said includes relocating a snake without a licence even if it is just across the road.

"I have had a few callouts recently for goannas and monitors," he said.

"A lot of people have a problem with snakes but there are also a lot of really big goannas and monitor lizards around this area.

"Monitors can grow up to six to eight foot and they can be a general menace to farmers because they will eat eggs and chickens and things like that."

Other people have been asking about first-aid and what tips Mr Thompson has for repelling snakes.

"A lot of people have reached out to me to ask what the best first-aid kits and bandages are to have around and what tips I have to help people prevent snakes from hanging around," he said.

The snake lover is more than happy to be face-to-face with a snake, but his confidence doesn't come without training.

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"Snakes show signs of distress and we have been trained on how to look for that," he said.

"You wouldn't approach a dog that is snarling and has its teeth shown and its the same thing for snakes.

"We were taught how to avoid snakes rearing up and how to comfort them and the telling signs before something goes wrong and mainly, we were shown how to deal when something does go wrong."

Mr Thompson said one of the biggest things to note is the power of having a bandage handy.

"There's an extensive list of first-aid we have to do before we can even touch snakes," he said.

"A snake bite can kill you within 20 minutes before you start feeling bad, but if you put a bandage on that it can give you eight to 10 hours."

Mr Thompson said a bandage should wrap around the bite tightly and continue above the bite, but to avoid being bitten the advice is to leave the snake catching to the professionals.

"I advise people to ring someone who knows what they are doing or just leave it," he said.

"The best thing you can do over snake season is have someone on call who can move it and have first-aid on hand."

Most snakes will move on their own quickly as they chase their food, Mr Thompson said.

"Here we don't have an adverse range of snakes," he said.

"Brown snakes are everywhere - they chase their food source which are rats and mice, and rats and mice live where we live so brown snakes are everywhere."

Mr Thompson, who is originally from Orange, was introduced to snakes at a young age, thanks to his grandfather.

"My pop was a drover, so he would take me out go wood carting and whatnot and he had a giant book he would take around with him on all of the snakes in the area and what was venomous, so we made a list and went out and found them," he said.

Now, living in Wagga, he has various pet snakes and other reptiles and a "couple of scorpions".

People can get in contact with Mr Thompson via his Facebook page: Josh's Reptile Relocation.

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