Q&A JULES SYLVESTER SNAKE WRANGLER
ALEXANDRA SHIMO
Sweetheart is not the first name that springs to mind for a snake, but then Jules Sylvester is not an average guy. The celebrity animal trainer and behind-the-scenes star of Snakes on a Plane, who grew up in Kenya, is known for his work with scorpions, lizards, leeches, tarantulas, beetles and cockroaches, and he keeps all of these creatures in clear plastic cages in his Los Angeles office. But snakes -- 500 of which he wrangled on the movie set, 70 at a time -- are the beasts closest to his heart. Hence, his loving nickname for the slitherers.
Snake wrangler? What possessed you to go into this field?
When I was 16, I saw someone catch a very large python at the bottom of the hill near my house in Nairobi. It was very exciting. It was great to watch. I thought, "Oh My God. That's the job for me." It's such an adrenaline rush to work with snakes. I'm always scared. After you put them back, you are shaking slightly and everybody else's jaws are wide open. I tend to giggle a lot when I work with venomous snakes because of the looks on people's faces. They stare at you like you are completely mad.
How does one make a snake do what you want?
You can't train a snake; they are not that smart. So you have to use a snake's natural ability. There are snakes that live on the forest floor on leaves, so when you put them on a seat, their natural instinct is to go down and get underneath the furniture. Milk snakes tend to slide into bags and shoes and things like that, which works great for the movies. When you put tree-climbing snakes on the floor, their instincts are to climb up, so you have snakes crossing in all directions. Ninety-nine per cent of them were non-venomous because we were working with actors. For the other 1 per cent, we had some cobras and rattlesnakes.
What's the most difficult thing about working with snakes?
They tend to crap over everything. You have to feed them a lot, and when you handle them, they crap all over the nice uniforms and wardrobe goes crazy, and the actors start honking. It can be really disgusting. You can't toilet-train a snake. You just have to use the ones that haven't just been fed. It's quite funny for us.
What was Samuel L. Jackson like with the snakes?
He loved them. Some of the others did not, though. A lot of them were initially very scared, but then we would let them handle one to see how gentle they are, and they became like pets. We did lose a snake for a couple of hours, though. An actor found it in his cushion.
Is being killed by a snake a good way to die?
If you are going to be killed by a snake, I would certainly take the large constrictor. They will knock you unconscious in about 15 seconds flat. It's a lot faster than any venomous snake will kill you. Venomous snakes are a very nasty way to die.
How many snakes do you have at home?
I have about 150 of them, and I know each one individually because I hand-raised them. They are deaf, but I talk to them anyway. I call them all Sweetheart. I know it's crazy because they can't hear, but I do it anyway. It just makes me feel good.
Q&a Jules Sylvester Snake Wrangler
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