JONES COUNTY, Ga. — Rae Pye has four hens that lay eggs every day. She was in for a surprise when she found nothing in the coop this week.
"Every afternoon I come home and go in the coop and I get the eggs. The other day I came in and there were no eggs in the coop. I said, 'Uh, oh, we may have a snake,' and sure enough, we did have a snake."
The snake eventually did leave on its own, but it made Pye curious- are there more snakes present during dryer weather?
"The wildlife here in Central Georgia is extremely active right now. You've got all kind of critters that we deal with," says Glenn O'Reilly, a wildlife technician with Animal Control Experts here in Georgia.
"Within a month, me alone, I probably get anywhere from 150 to 300 snake calls in just a single month," he says, but it's not from the dryer weather. It's breeding season for snakes and a number of other animals.
So, we verified there are not more snakes because of the dry weather, but because of mating season. O'Reilly says there are 46 different breeds of snakes in Georgia and six of them are venomous.
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"Copperheads, rattlesnakes, those are the two most common venomous snakes we're dealing with this time of year."
O'Reilly adds that not all snakes are harmful and most are beneficial for the environment.Taking a closer look, plenty of people are afraid of snakes and if you're one of them, you might feel like the best snake is a dead one.
You might be surprised to know killing non-venomous snakes is illegal in Georgia, according to the state Wildlife Resources Division. Snakes get a bad rep, and wildlife technicians say the best way to avoid snakes is just be mindful of where you step while outside.