Snake’s alive: Who you gonna call?

For most, snakes are frightening in the way they slither through fields and homes, but for Miracle Bennett and her family of Lancaster, they are animals that are misunderstood and deserve to be saved rather than killed without remorse.

“In Texas, killing snakes is almost a sport; people brag about it… people don’t realize that snakes shouldn’t die,” Bennett said. “They’re important to our ecology… and they are generally docile and nonaggressive until you get right up in their space.”

As a young girl, Bennett rescued animals with her mom in the middle of the night. Her mom was a part of the Garland Humane Society and worked with one other woman to help animals, host adoption events and more. Their home became a shelter for animals because the society did not have one, only a paw-printed van, Bennett said.

The practice of rescuing animals and helping them continued as she grew older. Today, along with her job as a realtor with Re/Max, she offers free snake relocation services and is the president of Furbabies of Lancaster Texas, a volunteer group in Lancaster that helps animals in need and promotes humane treatment of animals in the area. In addition to their assisting with the snake removals, son Alex, 26, works at an automotive store in DeSoto while husband Jack is a former motion picture and television special effects artist who now owns Creative Imagineering Inc., a 3-D animation and graphics company that’s based in Lancaster.

“I grew up in an environment where animals where very important,” Bennett said. “I was raised by my mother to advocate for animals that don’t have a voice.”

Saving animals is a passion close to her heart, and this includes snakes, an animal that introduced her to her husband.

While working at Petland in Mesquite her senior year of high school, Bennett met her husband, Jack, when he wanted to buy a ball python snake from her. She recalls walking out to help him and thinking, “I’m gonna marry that guy.” They have been together ever since, she said.

Over the years, the Bennetts have had countless pet snakes, and Bennett said she often volunteered to relocate snakes for friends and family.

About two or three years ago, she started putting her name out on the Nextdoor app as a free snake relocator and dropped her pin on the Free Snake Relocation Directory page on Facebook. Since then, the entire Bennett family, including their son, Alex, has jumped into the car and raced across the metroplex to save snakes big and small and relocate them away from homes.

“We just offer if somebody finds a snake or many, and they don’t want them wherever their space is, we will come and get it,” Bennett said.

“It would be entertaining to say that we were like the Ghostbusters, and we had a big siren and bells, and we all ran out,” she said. “But, usually, I generally just walk through the house and say we have a snake call, and we all pile into my van or whoever’s available piles into their car.”

Bennett said they each keep kits in their cars that have hooks grabbers, tongs, tweezers, knee pads, canvas bags, cloth pillowcases – whatever they may need to safely relocate and save the snakes when a call arrives.

When they arrive on site, they first locate the snake with people typically watching through the windows. They use tongs to grab snakes deeply buried, and they use their hooks and grabbers for larger or venomous snakes.

To relocate, their goal is to keep the snake close to the environment but far from peoples’ homes. Often, they use satellite maps to help pinpoint the best place to move the snake.

Before they relocate the snake, they educate those who called if they are interested.

Bennett is passionate about teaching people about snakes – the ones to watch out for and the ones that are not a threat and how to prevent snakes returning to their homes.

There are four venomous snakes found in Texas: copperheads, coral snakes, rattlesnakes and water moccasins.

To prevent a snake returning, Bennett said one must take away the food source or the habitat. Cover trash cans, avoid feeding pets outside, so no rodents will come, and no snakes will follow. Keep the yard mowed and avoid piling boxes, branches, etc., and make sure your house is sealed.

Bennett warned against leaving glue traps out for any type of pests because a snake could get caught in it.

“Glue traps are immensely cruel, a slow and painful way to die that can take days,” she said.

They have rescued snakes from glue traps, but it takes lots of effort and care.

She hopes education will help ease people’s fear of snakes, but she understands how deep their fear can run which is part of the reason she urges people to call her instead of killing the snake.

“We understand people have phobias,” Bennett said. “We never judge. We never mock or ridicule or belittle that deep fear. We understand.”

Bennett said they have been bitten by snakes before, none of which were venomous.

They have traveled as far as Colleyville and have helped multiple houses in Waxahachie and Ellis County, and they have relocated countless snakes of all sizes and types.

“We always answer,” she said. “We’re always here to help, and it is always free. It does not matter what kind of snake it is, whether it’s 4-inch snake or an 8-foot one – whatever it is, we’ll come.”

If you see a snake at your house, call Bennett at 214-763-1857 for removal and relocation. For more information on free snake relocation services, visit the Free Snake Relocation Directory page on Facebook.

Other resources include:

• Texas Parks & Wildlife Department https://tpwd.texas.gov/education/resources/texas-junior-naturalists/snakes-alive/venomous-texas-snakes

Originally published October 20, 2022 - https://www.waxahachiesun.com/open/snake-s-alive-who-you-gonna-call/article_28757122-50ad-11ed-afe8-cfc502d2ae88.html