Haiti's snake charmer - in pictures

Snake handler Saintilus Resilus looks in the mirror as he paints his face red before performing with snakes during the pre-Lenten Carnival Photograph: Dieu Nalio Chery/AP

Saintilus Resilus holds a snake in his mouth as he performs for money during the pre-Lenten Carnival season Photograph: Dieu Nalio Chery/AP

Saintilus Resilus holds a snake in front of his lips as he trains the snake to recognize his smell Photograph: Dieu Nalio Chery/AP

Resilus and an assistant hold snakes as they perform for money during the pre-Lenten Carnival season in Petionville, Haiti. It's the serpents that help Resilus eat and pay rent, as well as his work as a neighborhood herbalist Photograph: Dieu Nalio Chery/AP

Saintilus Resilus, with his face painted red, talks to his assistants as they get ready to perform Photograph: Dieu Nalio Chery/AP

Resilus watches a football match at home while holding a snake. A bag of snakes lays at his feet Photograph: Dieu Nalio Chery/AP

Resilus, right, and his assistant Renal Joseph are pushed in a boat by a young man paid to ferry them across the river in L'Estere, in Haiti's Artibonite state, to search of animals to catch Photograph: Dieu Nalio Chery/AP

An assistant of Resilus holds a doll as part of a snake performance during pre-Lenten Carnival celebrations Photograph: Dieu Nalio Chery/AP

Saintilus Resilus performs with an owl he caught in the wild a few days beforehand. Resilus promises to release the owl after the festival Photograph: Dieu Nalio Chery/AP

Resilus performs with a snake wrapped around his face as he and assistants walk in the streets during the pre-Lenten Carnival celebrations in Petionville, Haiti. Haiti's snakes aren't venomous, but they have poisoned some relationships. Resilus' wife left him in 1991 Photograph: Dieu Nalio Chery/AP

Spectators take pictures of the snakes during a street performance Photograph: Dieu Nalio Chery/AP

Saintilus Resilus uses a Guinness bottle to pour water into a snake's mouth as he works at home in Petionville Photograph: Dieu Nalio Chery/AP