Snake Man of La Perouse

'The Snake Man' is the common name for a reptile show in La Perouse, a suburb of Sydney, Australia.Also known as 'The Snake Pit', an occasional Sunday afternoon visit to the Snake Man has been a tradition for generations of Sydney families.

History

The show has been held on the same site in La Perouse since the early 20th Century.

The original Snake Man was 'Professor' Fox, who was proud of the immunity to snake venom that he had developed. However, like other such showmen, he did have his own special 'antidote', and it was while demonstrating this potion in 1914 that he allowed himself to be bitten several times. Unfortunately he overlooked one bite and he died after a few hours.

George Cann took on the show in the 1920s, and the Cann family has been running it ever since [Randwick City Council, "The Snake Men"] .

The show

The Snake Man performs in a 10 m x 10 m area of grass defined by a metre-high corrugated steel fence.

He stands in the 'pit' and removes reptiles one by one from canvas bags to show them to people lining the fence. He may hold a snake by the tail as he talks about it, or he may walk around the perimeter of the pit with the reptile just centimetres from the nervous onlookers.

Often he will allow a harmless reptile, such as a frill-necked lizard, to roam the pit for the duration of the show.

At the conclusion of each half-hour show 'the hat' is passed around for a small donation.

References

External links

* [http://www.randwick.nsw.gov.au/default.php?id=148#snme Randwick City Council "The Snake Men"]

Gallery