Snakes in California have been seen swimming through the state’s flooded streets, but that’s nothing compared to South Australia.
The flooding of the Murray River in Australia has closed off roads, inundated homes and cut off communities across the country. It has also displaced local wildlife from their homes, resulting in an increase in snake encounters across the country.
Nature enthusiast Tara Wilde has come across several of these wandering reptiles at the edge of the nature reserve at the bottom of her street in Murray Bridge, South Australia. “I saw two Tiger snakes swimming,” she told Newsweek. “Other people along the flooded Murray River have seen plenty of snakes swimming—they are fantastic swimmers.”
Tara Wilde/Facebook
Tiger snakes are highly venomous creatures that can grow to up to seven feet long. It was a “bloody racing snake on water,” Wilde said in a Facebook post.
Wilde told Newsweek that the Tiger snake in her photograph had been known to the area for a long time. “We locals are quite fond of him. His normal abode on the rocks, with a lovely easterly view, flooded. I was lucky to capture him relocating. I hope he is OK.”
Snakes are common all along the Murray River and inland areas, although it is unusual to see them out in the open like this as they are usually very shy. “They prefer to avoid people,” Wilde said.
Wilde’s house is about 320 yards away from the Casuarina Reserve, which has been submerged by the flood water. “The houses right on the front [of the reserve] have water up to their property edge…[but] we are lucky here. Up river has had it much worse…I know a few people with shacks further up the Murray River who are flooded and sandbagged.”
While walking in the reserve, Wilde spotted another snake species struggling in the flooded banks. This time it was an eastern brown snake—the snakes responsible for more fatalities in Australia than any other species. However, Wilde wasn’t concerned by this fearsome reputation.
Tara Wilde/Facebook
“I expected to see the snakes as this is their home,” she said. “I was excited to see and capture the extraordinary moment, but also felt a tad sad for the snakes and lizards being displaced from their environment. Snakes play an important role in the ecosystem and help with rodents.”
She said that this particular snake’s den had only flooded that day. “It was coming in and out of its flooded den to breathe, popping up every three minutes for air and looking to safely move across to a dry bank…[It] appeared frantic and stressed.
“This area is normally a dry flood plain that has not flooded since the 1956 Murray River floods.”
Despite this displacement and the devastation that it has brought for some people, the flooding has had some positive effects on the local ecosystems.
“The [flooding] is creating a wildlife bloom,” Wilde said. “Swans with babies (signets), frogs, spoon bills, ducks, turtles and a massive surge in dragon flies. There is a mosquito problem and the dragon flies can eat 100 each per day. They are mating down by the wetland, the clicking and humming of their wings is amazing to see and hear.”
There is some concern that, as snakes relocate, they might be more likely to find themselves in people’s homes and sheds. If you do find a snake on your property, the best thing you can do is to call in a snake catcher. Killing a snake in Australia is a punishable offence.
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