Residents in the north-west of NSW are being told to seal gaps under doors and holes in walls as snakes seek to escape floodwaters.
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The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has confirmed receiving “dozens of reports of snake sightings”, most of them of the mulga, western brown, eastern brown, python and bandy bandy variety.
NSW emergency services minister Steven Whan, who was reported to have visited isolated Goodooga yesterday, raised the snake alarm this week when declaring a natural disaster in the shires of Bourke, Brewarrina and Walgett.
“With reports of an increased number of snake sightings, a snake catcher is being sourced, along with a veterinarian to treat pets that may be bitten,” he said.
Later, Industry and Investment NSW reported they were working with the State Emergency Service and the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water to find the “best course of action to remove snakes where they pose a risk to humans”.
Yesterday a spokesperson for the NPWS, encompassed in the department, explained why the snakes were invading human territory.
“The snakes are coming from the surrounding countryside as floodwaters continue to move downstream and their natural habitats fill with water,” she said.
“Trained staff would use a bag and a jigger to catch the snakes. Snakes are enticed into the bag, which is dark and cool.
“They are then taken outside the town limits and released into a suitable habitat.”
Previously the NPWS reminded residents in the flood zone that snakes were “protected by law” and encouraged them not to try to catch or kill a snake because “that is when 90 per cent of snake bites happen”.
