Reporter's notebook - Snake problem?

If you have a problem snake on your property, Cody Machen's advice is for you to leave it be — and let him deal with it.

"People are scared of what they don't understand," he told The News. "90 percent of snake bites are because people are (ignorant)."

Machen, the reptile curator at Hillcrest Park Zoo, knows a thing or two about snakes — and he's not afraid of them. Starting in his childhood in Portales and for about 25 years since, he estimates he's caught in excess of 1,000 wild snakes and other reptiles. Many of the herpetological specimens at the zoo's reptile house are from those outings; other catches he keeps at his residence, but the large majority are safely released at locations off-site or to new homes.

In all that time dealing even with the most feared and venomous of wild reptiles, he's had just one serious issue, although it was plenty serious — a Gila monster bite 10 years ago put him in a coma for a week and out of work for nine months.

Still, Machen seemed unphased by the potential hazard of the hobby. Now with thousands of hours of experience, he knows what he's working with well enough for it to be worthwhile.

What makes it worth it? Not money, which he said he's never requested of the farmers, ranchers or homeowners who contact him to remove snakes from their property.

"Usually I'm just glad they haven't killed it," he said, noting a snakes' vital role in curbing rodent populations.

It's a deep appreciation for all animals but reptiles in particular that motivates Machen, he said, often spending time on days off just driving around the area looking for specimens. He hopes to pass the passion down to his son, who already at age nine can identify the creatures better than most. Some day — after thousands more hours experience, maybe in his teens — he'll be ready to catch a rattlesnake himself.

— Compiled by Staff Writer David Grieder