AAP General News (Australia)
12-12-2008
NT: Deadly snakes on the move in central desert
By Tara Ravens
DARWIN, Dec 12 AAP - Snakes are on the move in the central desert, with authorities
warning locals to keep their grass short and their eyes peeled.
Hot summer days and warm nights have increased reptile activity in Central Australia
and the Barkly Region, while heavy rain has boosted food supplies.
"The recent rain has triggered an explosion in frog activity and breeding, which in
turn triggers snakes hunting particularly at night," said NT Parks and Wildlife ranger
Garth Forrester.
"So people should use a torch when outside at night and always wear shoes."
In October 2006, electrician Glenn "Shorty" Butler died after being bitten by a snake
in his Alice Springs backyard.
Twenty minutes after the attack the father of four passed out in his toilet, and spent
the next two days on life support in hospital as doctors battled to save him from the
venom in his system.
He died from bleeding on the brain caused by the poison.
Mr Forrester on Friday urged people to be on the look out for snakes in their yards
and surrounding bushland.
"We were recently called out to collect a snake from a residential home in Tennant
Creek, the house had high grass, lots of thick mulch and corrugated iron on the ground,
all of which create a perfect haven for snakes to live," he said.
On the same day, rangers removed a venomous yellow-faced whip snake from the Charles
Darwin University Campus at Tennant Creek, opposite vacant bushland.
Also found in the region is the king brown or mulga snake, curl snake and western brown,
which claim on average one Australian life each year.
More than 100 western browns are caught by experts in Alice Springs each year and account
for 70 per cent of all call-outs, making the desert town the place with the highest number
of the deadly reptiles in Australia.
AAP tr/tnf
KEYWORD: SNAKES (PIX AVAILABLE)
2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
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