Storyful
A dad and daughter duo struggled to remove ticks from a rescued snake in Westbury, Tasmania.This footage, filmed by Ebony Bannister, shows her sister attempting to remove ticks from a snake, as her father holds the animal. The snake then hisses and tries to strike, spooking Bannister’s sister.“Dad!” Bannister’s sister calls out. “Could you just not let it do that again!”Ebony told Storyful that her dad, Bert Bannister, is a local native snake rescuer in northern Tasmania, Australia.“He has a holding pen for snakes that have been rescued that have been hurt or removed from place that aren’t safe for them like people’s homes, farms and parks,” she said. “Dad started doing this for free to encourage people to have them relocated rather than killing them.”“People have an unnatural fear of snakes, when in reality you are more likely to die from being hit by lightning. Dad is passionate about rescuing native snakes because of their bad rap, people often try to kill them even though it is illegal in Tasmania.”“As a family we have become accustomed to helping with the care of the snakes that he has rescued, some that have been damaged that he has nursed back to health are family members and are accustomed to being handled regularly by dad, they are calm and usually don’t try to bite him.” Credit: Ebony Bannister via Storyful