The spring and summer months are dates when snakes come out of their winter torpor in search of food, new territories and reproduction.
Snakes are more likely to move in these months (especially adult males in mating season and juveniles in search of their own territory) and therefore more likely to enter our gardens, fall into our pools or ponds, or die in the trap effects that we build and abandon , both in rural and urban areas.
Be that as it may, it is not usually pleasant for us to suddenly find ourselves with a reptile in your house… But, why do we “scare” so much when we find ourselves with a snake?
Well, you should know that there are multiple studies that reveal that the fear of snakes is innate and may have a neurobiological rather than a cultural explanation : a report prepared in 2013 defends that “… the human brain, along with the rest of primates, has specialized neurons in detecting and alerting us to these reptiles faster than to other animals or “dangers”…” ( Quan Van Le et al, 2013).
But beyond the initial surprise or fright, please remember that most of them are harmless, very vulnerable species and also protected by the law that must be helped and that depend on you in that situation… In fact, there are people who live with them in their pond as part of nature where they chose to be and so happy.
Without reaching these behaviors, today we only ask you for a little common sense and that you follow these tips and guidelines for action.
Going to the point today at Bicheando.net we are going to tell you what to do if you find a snake or snake in your garden, swimming pool… in 4 steps in order of importance.
1. – Calm down! and not lose sight of it.
We repeat… Calm down! The first thing you have to keep in mind is that it is very, very unlikely that it is poisonous (if it is a snake) or that it can harm you. Neither you, nor your children or pets.
The low density of viper populations and their elusive, rural (mainly mountains and mountains) and sedentary nature of the same, also makes it almost impossible for them to move to the urban centers of the cities or to urbanizations.
If there are more people in the house, someone should not lose sight of her for two reasons: if she decides to leave, I find myself resolved and if not, she is located so that someone can pick her up without looking for her.
But as always…
2.- Do not touch without identifying the species.
Under no circumstances should you try to rescue, remove, touch or pick up a snake without having 100% identified it. If you have your mobile handy and you can take a photo of it, in any herpetology or biology group on Facebook they will answer you almost instantly about what species it is.
Be careful here it is important that there are 2 or 3 people whose identification matches, that there are a lot of “armchair herpetologists” out there on the loose.
3.- Notify the authorities and/or associations.
And if possible, it is better that you call 112, Seprona or the Environmental and Forest Agents in your community , who will take charge of going after it or helping you identify it. And if no one takes care of it or you don’t have time to do it…
4.- Isolate and release…
You can do it… If you have 100% identified the animal, it is not dangerous (snakes) and for whatever reason no one can pick it up, you can remove it from your property by following these tips.
- Take the garbage can, a large cardboard box or similar.
- Take a stick, broom… as a hook, to direct it.
- Puton work or gardening gloves. These are enough for non-venomous snakes.
- Try to direct it with the stick or broom towards the boxor bucket that you have in your hand or on the ground.
- Be patient anddon’t be scared, snakes don’t chase people or anything like that and they do tend to stay coiled up defensively.
- Once inside the bucket or box, take it to an area with forest, thicket, wherever you think it could have come from. Or call 112 to be picked up.
- It is done. A life savedand you can sleep today a little happier for having saved a natural treasure in danger of disappearing from our ecosystems.
There is a snake in the garden! What I do? In short, if you come across an amphibian or reptile and you don’t know what to do with it or where to take it, follow these steps in order and importance and everything will be fine.