It’s springtime, and the sun is starting to shine, which means reptile are coming out of brumation to start breeding, sunbaking and looking for food.
Tania Cowley is a Wildlife Rehabilitator with Darling Range Wildlife Shelter and a licensed snake relocator and rehabilitator with the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
Ms Cowley said anyone who sees a snake should stay calm, put kids and pets inside, ring a relocator and keep an eye on the snake from a safe distance, which gives relocators a much better chance of finding a snake.
“If a pet is, or might have been, bitten it’s important to get them to a vet as soon as possible, even if they seem fine because they can go down hill very quickly,” she said.
“Snakes are very timid and will always try to flee any situation.
“It is usually if people are too close, tread on a snake or are trying to kill a snake that they may end up being bitten.”
According to Ms Cowley, it’s important to keep doors shut over summer, snakes are often found inside houses.
“If it is a very hot day, a house is cool and they can get in, they will take the opportunity to come in and cool off too,” she said.
To prevent snakes hanging around, yards should be kept tidy.
Snakes like to make themselves at home under sheets of tin, piles of bricks, wood, rocks and leaves.
Members of the public are urged to learn snakebite first aid.
Every house in Australia should have a pressure bandage on hand.
No one in Australia has died from a snake bite with a pressure bandage applied.
“It’s important that people remember venomous snakes can deliver a fatal bite and anyone who sees a snake should call in the relocators with experience who can calmly remove the animal and relocate them to a more suitable location,” Ms Cowley said.
“Snakes are a vital part of eco system, please treat them with respect they deserve.”
