For most couples, dates typically happen at restaurants and coffee shops, but Benhail Antao, honorary wildlife warden with Goa’s Forest Department, and his wife Louise Remedios, a wedding planner, had a rather “wild” courtship. It began when she decided to accompany Antao on his animal rescue operations. “We met at an event, and when I found out that Ben rescues snakes and crocodiles, I was intrigued. My exposure [to animals] had been restricted to cats and dogs,” says Louise, who lives in Panaji with her husband. The duo added each other on social media and before long, they were speeding off into the darkness and rescuing agitated cobras and pythons caught in sticky situations.

Their thrilling adventures have made it to Snakes are Here, a new National Geographic series that premiers on January 10 at 8 pm. The show aims  to take viewers on an inspiring journey into the wild, while showcasing the couple’s contribution towards rescuing snakes and other wild animals in the beach state. “Snakes are such amazing creatures. Without hands and limbs, they are able to ambush an active prey such as birds, rats or monkeys, in the blink of an eye. They can also straddle both land and sea with equal ease. Most of them can climb trees, and even glide from tree to tree,” shares Benhail. What stops the common man from appreciating these speedy strikers is fear and ignorance. “When you fear something, you will never be able to see the beauty. It’s appreciation that can lead to conservation and  that’s what we want,” he adds. According to Louise, what most people don’t realise is that when a reptile or wild animal is on the prowl, it’s putting itself in a life-threatening situation. “When people call us and say, ‘Hey, there’s a python that has swallowed a pigling or  kitten, they show empathy towards the prey but they lack the understanding to appreciate that the snake has worked hard and gone out of its way to land the prey for its survival. Prey are not passively waiting to be eaten.” The idea is to respect predators and not disturb or interfere in nature’s functioning, they suggest.