Flaviemys purvisi
Very Well-Known Member
Lawrence Machado, Liverpool Leader
July 11, 2018
Dick Shearim was the first known snake catcher in the Liverpool area. He died on Friday, aged 82.
ONE of the Southwest’s beloved and well known snake catchers, Richard Shearim has died, aged 82, leaving behind an immense legacy of his love for reptiles.
Called by his grieving family as “one of the last true snake men,” Mr Shearim died in his sleep last Friday.
He leaves behind children Robyn, Neville, Peter, Les, and Lin, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
His loving wife of 59 years Yvonne, died on May 8, and his family said he struggled to live with this huge loss.
Mr Shearim worked for many years with Bankstown Council and Arnott’s, having earlier bent his back in the sugar cane fields of Cairns in his youth.
“Dad fell in love with snakes at a very early age, catching his first venomous snake at 10, which started a life long obsession with reptiles,” son Les Shearim said.
“He grew up in Lakemba and moved to Liverpool in 1963 with mum.
“He passed his love for nature on to his children and had weekly trips in the bush looking for reptiles.
“About the time land clearing started to make way for the shopping centre, Dad and us boys relocated all native fauna to another area just outside Liverpool.
“We caught 175 eastern brown snakes in six months in 1988 and word got around.”
It was at this time that the community first knew about Mr Shearim’s remarkable skills and he made it to the newspapers when Les Shearim had a bite from an eastern brown snake.
People began calling him the snake buster and he was called out numerous times in spring and summer to remove highly venomous snakes from inside houses, shops, factories, schools and various other places.
“The snakes were relocated in the bush with little or no payment because he did this service for the love of these misunderstood creatures,” Les Shearim said.
“He wanted to make sure the community was safe and the snakes were also well away from the community.
“I was known as the weird kid in school because my Dad kept all these reptiles.
“He received many bites from highly venomous snakes and also kept a collection of venomous snakes at home.
“The most serious bite was from his pet death adder when he was 61 years old which put him in hospital.”
Mr Shearim was made a member of the Order of Australia in 2008 for his contribution to the community and also inspired many young people to respect wildlife.
“Dad’s health started to fail in 2012 but he kept chasing snakes for as long as his health would let him,” Les Shearim said.
“His family pressured him to give up his collection of venomous snakes and he finally did in 2013 but kept his pythons.
“He caught his last venomous snake in 2017 while he was in a wheelchair.
“He will be missed by many members of the community and the herpetology community.”
Les Shearim and Shane Walsh, who was trained by Mr Shearim, carry on his work relocating snakes.
Mr Shearim’s funeral arrangements were not finalised at the time of going to press.
■ If you have a problem with uninvited snakes call Les on 0484 929 180 or Shane on 0412 730 977.
