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(New York, New York, April 10, 2013) - "People think I'm crazy, but they can't help but like me," says "Turtleman" Ernie Brown, Jr., Kentucky's most famous backwoods animal-trapper and star of Animal Planet's hit series CALL OF THE WILDMAN, which returns for a second "snapperlicious" season on Sunday, June 2, at 9 PM (ET/PT) with 20 brand-new episodes.

With the phenomenon of Turtleman taking America by storm, Ernie is now busier than ever - protecting homes and businesses from new and wilder varmints including coyotes, llamas, venomous snakes, pigeons, skunks, crocodiles and even bulls! Assisted by his crew of backwoods buddies, aptly named "Team Turtle" and featuring banjo-toting Neal James, the "Live Action" is at an all-time high, and Turtleman isn't leaving any stones (or ponds) unturned.

And with winter quickly approaching, a little cold weather isn't going to stop this turtle team from seeking out critters in new and exotic locations. Later this season, Ernie and Neal are the ultimate turtles out of water, expanding their live-action repertoire across state lines to Texas and even south of the border to Mexico for a one-hour special episode highlighting their first international animal rescue. Now, Ernie is out of his comfort zone but always at the top of his game to safely return pesky varmints back to nature.

Bare-handed animal rescues featured this season include the following:

• Catching turtles becomes a family affair when Ernie receives a frantic call from his mother - aka Turtlemom - asking him to relocate his childhood snapping turtles, which have been occupying her pond for the last three decades. But little does he know that Turtlemom is looking for some live action herself and jumps at the chance to assist Ernie with the rescue.

• Kentucky's infamous Waverly Hills Sanatorium is a hot bed for paranormal activity...and ghostly varmints. When uninvited critters crash the owner's nightly paranormal tours, Team Turtle is called in to solve the mystery and discover what has been disturbing the dead.

• A farmer's prized bull is missing in action, and Turtleman is called to locate the giant beast. But the clock is ticking as Team Turtle races to locate the bull before it terrorizes the neighborhood's cattle.

• The old Marion County courthouse is in the process of being converted into a heritage center, but workers are finding themselves cleaning up bird droppings instead of working on the building itself! Team Turtle is out to uncover the hiding spot of these unpleasant pigeons and relocate them for good.

• An alpaca farm's guard llama is on the loose, and Turtleman is asked to rescue the runaway culprit. But there's a catch - Turtleman has never seen a llama in the wild and recruits Neal to help locate "mama llama" and get her back home safely.

For the past three decades, Turtleman has been diving into Kentucky's murkiest ponds in search of feisty snapping turtles capable of biting through bone. Accompanied by his canine companion, Lolly, and armed with country wits as sharp as the steel blade he carries, aptly named "Thunder," Turtleman has the uncanny ability to catch monster-snapping turtles and other pesky critters with his bare hands and return them into the wild unscathed. No job is too tough or dangerous for Turtleman, and his years of bonding with wild animals allow him to use his animal instincts to save them.

CALL OF THE WILDMAN is produced by Sharp Entertainment for Animal Planet. Matt Sharp is the executive producer and Jillian Horgan is the co-executive producer for Sharp Entertainment. For Animal Planet, Dawn Sinsel is the executive producer and Meredith Centrella is the production coordinator.    

Animal Planet Media (APM), a multi-media business unit of Discovery Communications, is the world's only entertainment brand that immerses viewers in the full range of life in the animal kingdom with rich, deep content via multiple platforms and offers animal lovers and pet owners access to a centralized online, television and mobile community for immersive, engaging, high-quality entertainment, information and enrichment.  APM consists of the Animal Planet television network, available in more than 96 million homes in the US; online assets www.animalplanet.com, the ultimate online destination for all things animal; the 24/7 broadband channel, Animal Planet Beyond; Petfinder.com, the #1 pet-related Web property globally that facilitates pet adoption; and other media platforms including a robust Video-on-Demand (VOD) service; mobile content; and merchandising extensions.

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