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Band of hunters stalk elusive snakes at night

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Christy Choi

For most, a night on the town means hitting a few bars, but for reptile lovers, it's a chance to head into the heart of the city's country parks and do what they love best - hunt snakes.

'I just meet people online, through Facebook,' said 50-year-old Robert Ferguson, sales director at the Economist Group. 'You get some funny looks, for sure. At first the wife was a bit worried about me. 'You're going to go out into the middle of the woods at night with someone you just met?'

He points at a photo of his son and two other men holding a 2.4-metre Burmese python. 'That's Dan, he used to catch rattlesnakes and sell them back in the States. I met him through Flickr.'

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The long-time snake wrangler is Dan Rosenberg, a toy designer originally from the rural outskirts of Los Angeles. Rosenberg spends his holidays looking for snakes all over the world in such places as Peru, Uganda and even Taiwan.

'I used to have snakes in my room, and once I complained to my dad about why I didn't have a girlfriend,' said Rosenberg. 'And he said 'well, son, maybe that's one reason.''

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Nowadays, the 47-year-old has no problem with women. His girlfriend is also a snake lover, and he makes friends worldwide who share his passion for serpents. 'We're drawn together by our love of snakes and photography,' said Rosenberg. 'I only recently started realising there's so much in Hong Kong to find.'

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