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Public warned of increased snake activity

Posted December 1, 2008 08:45:00

The Environmental Protection Agency says more snakes are being reported in residential areas this year, due to good rain in some regions and more food for the reptiles.

Rod Manthey, a wildlife ranger at Charleville in southern Queensland, says the drought has kept snake numbers down and restricted their activity due to a lack of ground cover.

But he says the increase in snake numbers means people need to take extra care.

"Food source and ground cover is the main reason why we're seeing a lot more snake activity at the moment," he said.

"Reports have increased over this year - I've had a lot of call-outs where snakes have gone inside houses and in yards ... I mean and there's a lot more mice build-up in towns at the moment and that could be due to feed on the ground."

Tags: animals, reptiles, charleville-4470, longreach-4730, mount-isa-4825, toowoomba-4350