In Kandegwa Village, Mwea Sub-county, Peterson Muriithi earns a livelihood from capturing snakes with which he lives within his house.
Residents say he is the call for rescue whenever they spot a snake in their farms.
Recently though, one of the snakes in his house bit him between his legs. He accidentally slept on it and it got angry resulting in the bite.
This shook his entire village because he has never been bitten by any other snake for many years.
He was hospitalized but even as he recovers, he is not about to stop his ‘snake trade’.
Murithii told Inooro TV that he shares a special bond with snakes but started as a rat trapper.
“I started by trapping rats and then went to capturing snakes,” he said. “It is like a talent from God.”
He teaches the snakes how to live with human beings and plays with them.
Many people come to his house and pay a fee to see the snakes. At times, he carries them to the nearby town for shows and earns money.
Muriithi feeds them with frogs which he hunts in the village. The snakes are locked up in his house every time he is away hunting their next meal.
Mary Wambui, a neighbour asked the government to consider giving the young man a job at the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).
