Most 10-year-olds associate snakes with strands of sweet gelatine, but not Toby Morrison.
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The energetic young reptile lover will be on the lookout for the real thing this summer, after completing a snake handling course with his father Adam earlier in the year.
Conducted through Reptile Rescue Incorporated, the pair received education on the best way to handle venomous snakes, as well as snake bite first aid.
Toby said the day-long course more than satisfied his curiosity for the creatures.
“I really enjoyed getting to handle them,” the St Leonards youngster said.
“The other stuff about first aid was also really useful.
“I’ve only really been interested in snakes for a year, but I always used to like catching lizards around where we live, and I even had a couple as pets.
“The blue tongues are always good, but not when they are trying to bite your head off.”
Toby’s certificate of completion means he can join his dad when he gets called out to deal with an errant snake in the region.
The father-son duo’s first and only call out so far has been a family affair, with Toby’s grandfather requiring their services to retrieve a snake that had gone down a hole at his property.
Morrison senior said his son dropped everything to go and help out his relative.
“Toby was in the middle of playing in a basketball tournament when we got the call,” he said.
“We went out there and Toby caught it before relocating it away from his grandfather’s place in a creek near the highway.”
The family’s neighbours at Driver’s Run would already be well aware of Toby’s exploits – he’s distributed flyers with his father’s number in case anyone should need a snake removed.
Mr Morrison said he expected there to be a few more call outs throughout the coming months.
“We completed the course towards the end of the snake season, so we have only seen odd one around our area since then,” he said.
“Toby did up the flyers because there have been a couple of people we know saying they have had snakes in the yards, and Toby would much rather catch them himself than see them killed.”