Snake sightings on the rise

Expert says weather to blame

ATLANTA — The number of snake sightings is on the rise partially because of the weather.

The high accumulation of rain is causing some snakes to look for drier ground inside garages and sometimes homes, WAGA-TV reported.

Jason Clark, of the Southeastern Reptile Rescue, said snakes are beginning to move more because of the warm weather.

“If we’re having a lot of torrential downpours and water levels are rising, we do see an increase in snakes coming into houses. Those are typically smaller, nonvenomous snakes just looking for somewhere to be dry,” Clark said.

Peachtree City resident Reagan Wilson said he spotted a copperhead slithering along the side of his driveway. He and his wife Eileen found out the property was not made as snake proof.

“I’d say it was about 2 feet, but it seemed like it was 5 feet. Not knowing anything about snakes, thinking it’s going to come after me, I start doing a little moonwalk thing,” Wilson said.

His wife added: “They apparently love pine straw, so we may get that removed. We also need to [trim] back some hedges and remove some hedges, and they also like to get under low lying patio furniture. We’re thinking about getting some with higher legs.”

Clark said people should not panic when they see a snake, which are not aggressive animals.

“The first thing a snake wants to do is escape, if that’s possible, then it will use its camouflage and hope you don’t see it. The last thing the snake wants to do is actually bite,” Clark said.