Brown snakes spotted on Byards Road Wetlands walking track near Reynella East College
Brown snakes have been seen on a popular walking track near a southern suburbs school.
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It may be midwinter, but highly venomous snakes have been spotted next to a southern suburbs school.
The brown snakes have been seen in the Byards Road Wetlands, next to Reynella East College and the Reynella East Children’s Forest, leaving residents concerned about the risks of attacks.
Kerrie Matthews, of Happy Valley, spotted one of the snakes next to a path while walking with her three-year-old son in the Onkaparinga Council-owned wetlands this week.
“I was really concerned about it being so close to the school and with the amount of people and dogs who walk through there,” Mrs Matthews said.
“Of course I understand it’s (the snake’s) territory and habitat, so I don’t think that removing the snakes will fix the problem.
“I really feel that there should be signage up at least to let people know to beware.
“My other concern is that it’s not even summer yet and they already seem to be coming out quite a bit.”
Brown snakes are common throughout Adelaide and the southern suburbs.
Snake catcher Tom Dunning, of Snake-Away Services, said it was not unusual for snakes to be out at this time of year.
“We still get two or three call outs a week throughout winter,” Mr Dunning said.
“People think that reptiles are like bears with hibernation and go into a deep sleep for a few months.
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“Reptiles actually bromate so they don’t go into a comatose sleep but if the weather or their hiding spot heats up enough from the sun they’ll still come out in the cooler months.”
Mr Dunning’s advice was to keep a safe distance when seeing a snake in the wild.
“They’re an animal so if you leave them alone they’ll leave you alone,” he said.
“People only get in confrontation or bitten when thy get up close to them.”
Onkaparinga Council said it was investigating the installation of signage in the wetlands area, which would include information about snakes.
“Snakes occur naturally within all our natural areas, so it’s not practical to install warning signs everywhere,” the council said in a statement.