美国国家公共电台 NPR--Las Vegas pastor spends his free time catching unwanted rattlesnakes（在线收听）

Las Vegas pastor spends his free time catching unwanted rattlesnakes

Transcript

Tim Agnello rounds up rattlesnakes in his neighbors' yards. He finds places in the dessert with enough food, water and shade and then releases the rattlers.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Tim Agnello is a man with a hobby - a hobby that's not for everyone.

TIM AGNELLO: I was catching snakes probably when I was 3 years old, but it was when I was 11 years old that I caught my first rattlesnake. And man, I was hooked.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

That's the hobby - catching rattlesnakes. He can't forget the feeling of grabbing his first.

AGNELLO: Your nerves just kind of woo, and your stomach drops. And it's kind of scary at first, but it's super exciting.

INSKEEP: Yeah. My nerves would also just kind of woo. That first time, he was with a friend who did not share his excitement.

AGNELLO: I tell my friend, hey, there's a rattlesnake under this board, and he starts freaking out, and he's running around like a crazy person. But I was really thrilled by it and was trying to catch it and finally got it into a coffee can.

FADEL: Agnello has been grabbing rattlesnakes ever since. He works as a pastor in Las Vegas and was looking to do some kind of community service when he heard an announcement on the news.

AGNELLO: Hey, rattlesnake season is coming. Everybody be careful. And I thought, well, I could be of service

INSKEEP: Soon, Agnello was passing out flyers talking with animal control and posting on social media, offering to come to people's homes and remove snakes.

AGNELLO: You know, if I can come in and encourage people and get their snakes, I thought that would be a good way for me to use my own personal skill set to help our community.

FADEL: And he does it for free.

AGNELLO: Most people don't want to do it, and for those who do do it, they charge an arm and a leg, which I don't think is right.

INSKEEP: He takes the risk of getting bitten in an arm or a leg but says he's doing three to four house calls a day.

AGNELLO: We don't kill the snake, so it's kind of a rescue for them. I think it's important to keep them alive and to keep them part of the ecosystem.

FADEL: Agnello finds places in the desert with enough food, water and shade and then releases the rattlesnakes back into the wild.