Wednesday October 6, 2010
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www.monaropost.com.au
Volume 5 Edition 6 ISSN 1834-0318
B I O D I V E R S I T Y & FA R M I N G FA I R
E INSID
Sunday 10th October Bredbo Village 9am - 4pm pg 6 (Advert) & 28 (Editorial)
Snakes alive – LAOKO to the rescue With the arrival of warmer weather, some local residents have already had close encounters with some of our local reptiles, one of the most common being brown snakes. As protected species, our native snakes should not be harmed, which can be a challenge if they are in the wrong place at the wrong time and likely to pose a threat to householders. State legislation says the National Parks and Wildlife Service has responsibility for our native fauna – including snakes. However, with no NPWS office or ranger handy, the average householder can be left with quite a problem in dealing with a snake when it’s where it shouldn’t be, for instance, inside a house. The issue with dangerous, but protected snakes, is finding someone to relocate it for you. Commonsense dictates that allowing a snake room and time to escape is probably the best option, but that is not always possible. The Monaro Post has been investigating the problem. Because snakes are protected, they are covered by the
National Parks and Wildlife Act . However, a spokesman for the National Parks and Wildlife Service has advised, “unfortunately collecting wayward venomous snakes are a problem right across the State. Most areas in NSW don’t have a NPWS office nearby and Cooma is a one and a half hour round trip from Jindabyne. “Snakes do not belong to the NPWS. They belong to the community in a sense and are protected under the law. “The NPWS will consider removing problem snakes in Cooma when it’s a significant threat, such as in a preschool, but other than such circumstances cannot justify the round trip to Cooma.
“In the vast majority of cases when we get a call the snake is outside and our experience has been that it’s gone by the time someone turns up to remove it”. Cooma’s volunteer snake man, Bill Watson has retired from catching snakes, for a number of reasons, one of which was the cost of travelling across the Monaro to deal with snake incidents. His retirement left a void, but luckily, local wildlife group Looking After Our Kosciuszko Orphans (LAOKO) has come to the rescue. LAOKO now has a snake ‘team’, of volunteers, comprising mainly builders who were accustomed to finding snakes on site when they were working. As a matter of necessity, the snakes had to be removed. They team has completed snake handling courses and is now competent and licensed to deal with snakes. While they are volunteers, they are also covered by LAOKO. LAOKO also has other snake-trained volunteers, but they are not yet on the roster. LAOKO can be contacted on 6456 1313. Pictured Copperhead snake. Photo by Dave Hunter, supplied by NPWS.
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