As the weather is beginning to warm up and the days getting longer you may have seen a few snakes out and about! Spring is the beginning of snake season and now is the perfect time to remind ourselves of what we can do should we see a snake.
Although there is knowledge that it is rare for a snake to stay in the same place for a duration of time (unless the conditions are perfect), there are still a few tips that you can do to prevent running into a snake or having them come to close for comfort!
Information sourced from www.australiangeographic.com.au
Although there is knowledge that it is rare for a snake to stay in the same place for a duration of time (unless the conditions are perfect), there are still a few tips that you can do to prevent running into a snake or having them come to close for comfort!
- Make your house and property less attractive to snakes. Remove any debris or woodpiles, cut back long grass and shrubbery, remove leaf litter and block any holes around the outside of your house that may look like a safe spot to hide.
- Keep pests under control. Rodents are a good food source for snakes – less food means less snakes.
- Bird aviaries and chook pens can be very attractive to snakes. Keep your enclosure secure, clean and free of rodents.
- Keep your pets safe. Unfortunately, our pets don’t deter snakes.
- Check twice (if you can do so safely!). Often, blue-tongue lizards and other lizard species get mistaken for their long lost snake cousins. Lizards are a gardeners’ best friend and are a welcome visitor in your yard. Legs, ears, eyelids and a broad tongue are good indicators that you’ve got a mini, snail destroying Godzilla in your yard.
- Call a professional. Never attempt to catch or kill a snake.
- Snake identification can be tricky. A snake that is brown in colour may not be an eastern brown snake. If someone does get bitten by a snake, it is not necessary to catch or kill the snake first. Perform first aid and go straight to the hospital. If the bite is from a venomous snake, the hospital can test the bite site to determine who the culprit is and treat the patient accordingly.
- Stay up to date with current snake bite first aid for humans and pets and keep a snake bite kit on hand. It might be time for a refresher in correct snake first aid if you still think sucking the venom from a snake bite is the first call to action!
- Lastly, if you are ever lucky enough to see one of our scaled friends, don’t panic. Back away to a safe distance. Your unexpected visitor will move on because, contrary to popular belief, snakes don’t want anything to do with people. A snake will only bite if it feels threatened; they are much smaller than we are and a bite or a strike is their only defence if they can’t get away first.
Information sourced from www.australiangeographic.com.au
RSS Feed
