Pages

Monday 18 July 2011


About Us:
Ian Norton, who lives in Tasmania, Australia, along with wife Sylvia, has produced a range of Raptor snake management equipment through necessity. Having been involved with reptiles since childhood, he witnessed a variety of tongs and pinners capable of injuring snakes when force was applied.
Ian is a well-known herpetologist in his home state and a veteran of ten years research on Chappell Island, in Bass Strait. Ian and co researcher Jane Guy have n active research project at Wesley Vale, a long term study of a marshland where over three hundred snakes have been micro-chipped. The effects of climate change have had a detrimental impact on the population and will significantly determine the viability of this coastal habitat.
Our entire range of snake handling equipment comes with a twelve-month warranty and is manufactured with animal welfare as a prerequisite. The Raptor range is designed to be used with enthusiasm without causing injury to reptiles, while maintaining security for the operator, if maintained in good order.
 The pinner is handcrafted from tempered a spring steel Y section under tension and fitted to an adjustable spring-loaded trekking pole. The pinner head can be interchanged with a hook to create a versatile combo if only one pole is preferred.
The snake bag hoop is stainless steel, ad the dark green bags can be changed in under a minute. Being dark, reptiles can easily be enticed, and because our hoops are square, they can be used as a stand-alone instrument and work well against the side of a building. To extend the length, the hoop handle can be attached to the trekking pole.
The Raptor snake gripper comes three lengths 500mm, 700mm and 2 metres. Powder coated these instruments are robust and easy to deploy. Having an adjustable jaw allows the user the option to tailor the instrument to choice. We prefer to use the pinner as the primary tool and a short Raptor tong to bag the specimens. The Raptor if used alone is deployed horizontally to the first third of the body from the head; the snake will be carried forward with the momentum of the instrument.