Snake season is upon us and here is what to expect this year
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) – It is the time of year when we start to see more snakes in the area. One thing is we may see more of them than most years.
Summer is just around the corner, and that means snake season, and there is much talk about whether the cicadas will mean more snakes. But is that true?
“These posts seem to be claiming that because the cicadas are merging right now that there are going to be way more copperheads and that they are going to be flocking to the areas where the cicadas are,” said Camilla Sherman, the Assistant Education Director at Phinizy Center for Water Sciences. “But this is inaccurate. So, copperheads do eat cicadas, cicadas are full of protein, and they actually have more protein than a mouse, and so they are a good snack for lots of things beyond copperheads, but copperheads do like to eat them.”
It is just that the snakes are eating the cicadas, so they are in more prominent places where the cicadas are.
“You may possibly see more copperheads. It’s not because there are more there. It’s just because the cicadas are everywhere, and because cicadas are visible now, the copperheads are going to eat them,” said Brittney Pelfrey, Relocation with the CSRA education and relocation group. “So, you may see one, but you also may not. I have yet to see one this year.”
Snakes are vital to our ecosystem, and if you have them, experts say that is good because they get rid of unwanted pests. And they say they will not harm you as you let them be.
“Whether you see a snake, whether it’s venomous or not, you should still just leave it alone because it’s just trying to go about its business and doesn’t want you to mess with it. So, snake bites tend to happen when people are trying to mess with snakes. So, if you’re trying to pick it up to move it or you’re trying to kill it. That’s when the snake is going to feel threatened, and that’s when it will strike,” said Sherman.
If you want the snake gone, there are services that can help, like the CSRA education and relocation group on Facebook.
“We remove them from the unwanted area and will relocate them. Typically, we try to stick to somewhere between a fourth mile and half a mile of where we find the snake because that’s its home area. It knows where to find food; it knows where to find water, and it knows where to find shelter. If you take it far away from there, it’s lost, and it will typically end up dying,” said Pelfrey.
Snake experts say there are no sure ways to identify which snakes are venomous and which are not. Georgia has six types of venomous snakes. The Copperhead, Cotton Mouth, Eastern Dimond Backed Rattlesnake, Timber Rattlesnake, Pigmy Rattlesnake, and the Eastern Coral snake. Knowing what they look like, and their patterns is good to identify them without getting too close.
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