Simon Keys, Siouxsie Gillett and team stay in city for 36 days; 8th Season to premiere on July 18

Mysore/Mysuru: Mysuru will feature in the Ninth Season of National Geographic’s ‘Snake City’ or ‘Snakes In The City’, a documentary-style reality TV series revolving around the daily life of snake rescuers Simon Keys and his herpetologist girlfriend Siouxsie Gillett. Mysuru is the first city in Asia selected for conducting a documentary study on snakes.

The Eighth Season will be premièred on July 18 and after which, Mysuru will be featured in the Ninth Season. In the series, Simon and Siouxsie, experts in animal behaviour, hunt down and capture by hand, the world’s most dangerous and venomous snakes that emerge every summer. They then release these problem snakes back in the wild away from humans.

To shoot the series, Simon and Siouxsie along with a seven-member team stayed in Mysuru for more than a month to conduct the study, rescue and picture the documentaries on snakes. And city’s well-known snake rescuer and wildlife conservationist Snake Shyam supported the team in their adventure.

36 days in Mysuru

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Snake Shyam said that the team, comprising Simon and Siouxsie, production head Ben, three cameramen and three assistants, were in Mysuru for about 36 days and left on June 16.

“They were put up at Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel and they used to come with me for snake rescues, except on Sundays. It was a good experience shooting with the team and the team was also creating awareness about snakes. Mostly we rescued cobras and Russel’s Vipers and Common Kraits and the highlight of the shoot were scientific aspects of the species and their protection,” he said. 

 Travelled in autos

“The team also travelled in my autorickshaw as and when I get a snake rescue call. On average, I used to get 15 calls every day and I would send them locations. The team would be selective while choosing the locations like the snakes hidden amidst firewood, bricks, houses, industrial areas and certain crevices. In all, the team would have closely shot over 25 to 30 snakes while they observed over 267 snakes in the Mysuru region and rescued over 60,” Snake Shyam recalled.

Mentioning that Simon and Siouxsie were surprised to learn that snakes are worshipped in India, especially in the Mysuru region. “The couple sought to explain to people about the misconception of ‘12-year revenge’ and appealed to people not to harm this wonderful creation of nature. They also urged people to educate children about the sensitive ecological balance achieved by snakes. Wherever they visited, they launched a programme called Training New Friends,” Shyam said.

On the likely time of Season Nine to premiere, Snake Shyam said that the team has to edit the videos and finalise narration before the documentary is screened. “It might take time and moreover the Eighth Season is being aired from July 18,” he added.