Snakes are lurking in piles of rubble during storm cleanup, animal control officer says

PORT SALERNO, Fla. (CBS12) — The recent storms have left behind large amounts of debris, which has been the case piled up about many neighborhoods in the weeks since the hurricane and tornadoes swirled Through.

However, venomous snakes have made themselves comfortable in some of those piles.

A coral snake, which is venomous and life-threatening, was spotted in Martin County last week.

‘They are rarely seen. We don’t really see the venomous ones,” said Amanda Heffron, an animal control officer with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office. “They don’t want to be seen by us, they don’t want to be bothered by us, they don’t want to be seen by us, they don’t want to be bothered by us. do their thing.”

So why are we seeing them now?

Heffron says the environment within the piles of rubble is to blame.

“Everyone is trying to clear property of vegetation and property damage from their homes, so warm, dark places are especially great for snakes because that’s where their prey goes and they follow,” she told CBS12 News on Monday. .

Heffron was called to care for that coral snake in Port Salerno last Thursday, but that wasn’t the only snake she had to deal with that day.

“It was one of the biggest I’ve ever seen,” she said of the coral snake, “and later in the day there was a five-foot diamondback rattlesnake hanging out just below the slider. on the patio of a house, with children and pets inside. It has to go, I can’t stay there, it’s not safe.’

That rattlesnake was in Palm City.

She says both snakes emerged from piles of rubble, and they likely won’t be the last to do so, given the ongoing cleanup and the length of time it takes for debris collection in the province.

Heffron says it is not advisable to get too close to these rubble because snakes may be lurking there.

“Don’t keep an eye on your phone when you’re walking your dog so you’re aware,” she noted. “We have all kinds of wildlife around us, especially coyotes and bobcats, it’s not just snakes. Everything is in motion, with growth and development everything pursues their prey, as their prey is chased from their homes.”

Both snakes have been moved from buildings on the east side of the province, so that they will not be bothered by people – and fortunately also the other way around.