I live in the country where rattlesnakes thrive so I purchased this grabber for piece of mind. Until this week I’ve never had the need to use it. Now in a weeks time I’ve removed four rattlers from around my home. I have called a pest control company to come and access what level of problem I have but until then this has been a very valuable tool.The device is light to handle but long enough to provide a safe distance to avoid a striking rattler. The jaws close tight keeping the snake contained for relocation or termination. I’m not a trained snake handler but I did watch video and read articles on how to use snake grabbers. I would highly recommend you do the same. We all know one mistake could be deadly. Overall I highly recommend this grabber. It has worked perfectly for my needs.

This tool is AWESOME! Love the long length and sturdy build. I take it with me ever night when I go and lock up our chickens and ducks for the night. Never know when you'll cross paths with a snake or find one hiding out in the chicken coop. 2 very small details that I don't even think are worth dinging a star. The girlfriend (she's very petite) finds it a bit heavy, especially when holding a snake at length. The other small thing is the lock, sometimes locks on it's own but it's easy enough to unlock. I didn't think it was going to be long enough when I ordered it but it's plenty long and any longer would make it a bit cumbersome. I like it, I plan on buying another, so I can keep 1 in the barn or workshop and one by the front door of the house.

I am 70 years old. I am retired and live in a semi rural area. My development is small with several wooded areas. The last of those lots which border my house are being developed. It is fairly normal in spring to see an occasional snake. The clearing of adjoining acreage has sent deer, turkeys and, of course, snakes fleeing from their homes. My wife has a phobia about snakes. She doesn't really care whether the snake is harmless or dangerous. She loves gardening and the outdoors but once she sees a snake she is indoors until I find it and shoot it. Of course, my eyesight is not great at 70 years old. Paying someone $300 to come drop a few snake traps and come back in two days to pick them up is not a realistic option for a retired couple on a fixed income. I quickly figured out that I could buy a Professional snake trap and do the job myself for less than one call to a professional snake guy. I carefully watched the videos on the snake trap manufacturer's website. The company rep easily picked up the trap and slid the snake into a bucket for disposal. I am not a professional snake handler and I have no intention of picking up a box with unknown snakes in it. I do not want to increase my chances of getting bitten trying to do something I have never done!!!!!!!So naturally I buy the professional LIFT TOP snake box (so I can see what is in it from a safe distance) and the heavy duty, EXTRA LONG snake tongs. I'm now set. I saw a snake today but the snake trap has not arrived. I decide to inspect the snake tongs so that I will be familiar with the tool and ready to go when the trap arrives. I lay the box out on my back patio. I notice that there appears to be loose parts moving around. As I slightly tilt the box small parts start rolling to both ends of the box. There is a very FLIMSY plastic bag with a spring and cable inside (not a good quality bag that would contain the parts). Now I grab all of these rolling parts out of the corners of the box. I finally get them all in one place to see what they are. They appear to be bushings and a small spring. The large cable is still in the "parts bag". It dawns on me that all of the replacement parts were shipped in the bag but the cable end promptly ripped the bag and spilled all of the parts. No problem, I will just find the instructions, identify what each part is and how to install it. What, no instructions? Surely that cannot be the case. No responsible company would ship such a tool for handling dangerous snakes without instructions to reduce their own liability and insure that their customers are using the tool safely. Now, I get it. A quick inspection and I find it. "Made in China" . Now it all makes sense. This company apparently has no reason to worry about liability or their customers safety. No company building this tool in America would ever ship this tool in this manner. OK, there aren't any instructions. There has to be at least a drawing of the tool and a parts list. NOPE!!!!!! Wrong Again. What a disappointment. The company selling an inexperienced customer a tool (also not a cheap tool) for handling a potentially dangerous snake will not even include minimal instructions, a drawing to explain where the replacement parts go, and a replacement parts list to see if I received everything I need. What would it cost to include that minmal safety protection and confidence in the use of the product ( a tenth of a cent)? (a cent max?) Really!!!?????On to the tool. The shaft is high quality stainless steel with good heft and balance. A good weight for anyone handling the tool (and an angry snake). The sturdy feel gives you confidence it will restrain anything that the homeowner may encounter. The shaft is attached to the tongs and the trigger/handle with two high quality, heavy industrial industrial rivets. The coating on the rivets should easily protect it from rust and corrosion for a long time. Overall feel is very sturdy. The Non slip covering on the handle is snug and well fitted, should not move around in any condition. The cable running from the tongs to the trigger is heavy duty and should last for years. By inspection, I figured out that the parts rolling around are, in fact, heavy duty cable fasteners for the replacement cable. Both the tongs and the handle housing/trigger are good qualiy, heavy duty aluminum. The only potentially negative and suprising thing on a high quality tool like this is the slot that locks or unlocks the tongs, There is a narrow slot (1/4in? long) on both sides above the trigger. Inside the slot is a loosely fitted 1/16in? bolt with small cap nuts. A sturdier, thicker bolt with larger cap nuts would have been more appropriate for a tool of this quality. At the bottom of the slot, the tool will lock and stay locked if you release the trigger. At the upper end of the slot, the tongs will release as you take your fingers off the depressed trigger. The bolt does not move smoothly from position to position but the tongs work great, They should hold anything when locked!!! I think the play in the bolt/slot may have been intentional. They may have have intended that the user tighten the cap nuts on the bolt to get the friction that best suits the particular user. But how would I know? There aren't any instructionsOverall , great heavy duty tool at a budget friendly price. Manufactuer should remember their customer and the fact that unskilled, perhaps elderly people, are attempting to handle potentially dangerous snakes with no instructions, no warnings, etc. Come on folks. Do you really to have every penny (or tenth of a cent) for your stockholders. You won't miss the miniscule incremental profit. But on everything else, great tool!!!!! Great price for the quality of the tool.

The snake tongs works very well as advertised. We live in the country and last year we had an unwelcomed visitor in our home after returning from a weekend trip. That's him in the photo. My wife kept the snake in view while I looked for something to grab him. I found a cheap grabber we use to clean up roadside liter. It didn't close well and had a big space that wouldn't hold a snake once grabbed. I just wrapped duct tape to close the space. Eventually I was able to grab this large rat snake and removed him from the house. I had no desire to kill him so I walked into the woods and released him. A few months later we bought some chickens and I built a coop. I knew snakes would be attracted to coops for the eggs. So I bought the snake tongs and stored it in the barn in case we had visitors. We did this morning when a large black rat snake was outside the coop and the chickens were interested so the snake was in a defensive position. Sorry I didn't have photos because my camera wasn't available. I used the snake tongs and grasped the snake about 5 inches behind the head. I held on tight and again walked into the woods to release him. To my dismay I know now I squeezed the handle too tight and probably severed the spinal cord because he was unable to move. I knew he wouldn't live long so went back to the barn, returned with a spade, ended his misery then buried him. It was a hard thing to do because I love all of God's creatures and won't kill any creature without a good reason. So the tongs worked very well and if there is a lesson maybe when you close the tongs use just enough pressure to hold without causing injury, but as I said it's a learning experience. I have wrapped a single layer of duct tape inside the grasping tong to keep a firm pressure with a bit of cushion to avoid undue injury. However if you live in snake country snake tongs are needed if you want to remove withut killing, even venomous snakes.We all have a place and a purpose in God's universe.