Biography

Russell Cavender, better known as “The Snake Chaser,” has always had a love and fascination for animals and wildlife. At the age of three, he caught his first snake, and at the age of seven caught his first venomous snake!

Russ can always be found helping orphaned animals. He also takes part in bird and wildlife conservatory groups.

Today, you’ll find Russ doing what he loves as a Nuisance Wildlife Control Specialist along the Grand Strand. Since 1993, catching snakes and wrestling alligators is all in a day’s work for The Snake Chaser! Along with snakes and reptiles, Russ also specializes in the control of hornets, yellow jackets, pigeons, raccoons, opossums, moles, bats, feral cats, bobcats, and squirrels to name a few.

When Russ was asked to talk about one of his most memorable service calls, he fondly remembered the "Rooster" call. He explains, " My favorite service call ever occurred in the mid to late 90’s. I received a call from a somewhat elderly gentleman, who proceeded to tell me that he had a rooster trapped in his attic. I was a bit skeptical, and I gave a little laugh and said “yeah, and your refrigerator’s running too… Ha-Ha…” He passed the phone to his wife, and she began to tell me the details of their situation.

It began when they heard this rooster crowing in their attic about a week before they called me. They told me other people had heard it also, including a few of their neighbors and their daughter who was a vet. They would hear this rooster crow at around noon every single day. So, the lady asked me to come, and she was willing to pay me to crawl through her attic to remove a rooster, which by all accounts should have died from starvation by that time. She said that I should be there by 11:30 am, so I would hear the rooster crow at noon.