Australia: Snake season starts early as high temperatures hit country’s east coast

The Australian Reptile Park has issued an "urgent warning" for people to be on the lookout for venomous snakes, CNN reported.

Canberra [Australia]: Snake season in Australia has started early as the country’s east coast experiences one of its warmest winters on record. The Australian Reptile Park has issued an “urgent warning” for people to be on the lookout for venomous snakes, CNN reported.

Snakes tend to “brumate” over the winter, a state similar to hibernation during which they become less active and often seek out a place to hide until temperatures start to climb again. Usually, this doesn’t happen until September.

---

According to the Australian Reptile Park, the heat is enticing snakes to emerge sooner than usual and snake catchers have reported a significant increase in callouts a phenomenon rarely seen at this time of year.

Operations manager at the park, Billy Collett, in a statement, said: “It’s important that all Australians know that [snakes] do not go out of their way to harm people. Snake bites mostly occur when people are trying to catch or kill the snake, so if you don’t do either of those things, there’s a greater chance that you’ll be okay!”

But he urged people to learn how to deal with snake bites, which can be fatal in as little as 30 minutes. These include keeping bite victims calm, removing jewellery and watches and bandaging the whole limb, not just the bite area. He also recommended people keep backyards clear of stacks of firewood and other materials which can create ideal habitats for snakes, as per CNN.

Australia’s winters have been steadily warming as the world continues to burn planet-warming fossil fuels, and global temperatures soar, as per CNN.