Durban — With piles of refuse dumped at street corners and some piling up at home, Durban snake rescuer Nick Evans has addressed the rumours surrounding snakes and rubbish.
Evans said that there have been a lot of discussions and stories about snakes which was not uncommon. Therefore he decided to enlighten and educate the public on the subject.
He said that the municipal strike which began on February 27 has led to piles of rubbish bags building up on properties or selected dumping sites. The municipality recently opened landfill sites to the public, after about two weeks of rubbish bags piling up, to ease the pressure of the build-up.
To answer the question of what this means for snakes, Evans said that with all the rubbish around, we are making rats happy.
He said Durban already has a problem with the invasive house rat, a pest in many parts of the world.
“Now, with all this rubbish, they’ve got even more food and materials to use to make nests.
“I’m no rat expert, but I’d be surprised if their numbers don’t go up. They breed quickly,” Evans said.
He said snake removers always find rats and their nests in ceilings, storerooms, garages, cupboards, kitchens and in or under beds. Most homes, clean or messy, have them, at least at some stage.
Evans explained that high rat populations mean happy rodent-eating snakes such as brown house snakes which are non-venomous, highly recommended pest control for the garden and black mambas highly venomous.
Evans said this would not cause a population explosion of snakes.
“Snakes breed at certain times of the year. Most mate in spring, some in winter, but not when opportunities arise, such as now.
“It does however mean we could possibly see more snakes being attracted to properties due to the current situation,” Evans explained.
He said Durban is well-known for its healthy snake population, due to the multiple reserves/greenbelts/valleys and dense human population (resulting in frequent conflict).
He also explained that humans also make Durban more appealing to snakes, by creating habitat, like leaving piles of wood, brick, rubbish etc. around, or having messy storerooms. Or, dumping rubbish over the fence into the bush. All of this provides shelter for snakes, and breeding grounds for rats.
On the alleged snake infestation, Evans said that over the weekend, he received multiple calls from media houses asking him about it.
“There is no snake infestation,” Evans said.
He said that over the weekend and last week, snake activity had been far quieter than normal. He received a few calls and spoke to other snake removers who experienced the same.
He reiterated Durban has a healthy snake population. It is currently hatching season, so there are babies around. However, many get picked off by predators quickly.
“I’m not sure how one declares an infestation from a scientific point of view,” Evans said.
Addressing the issue of a message making the rounds on social media about snakes and the heat, Evans said it was causing unnecessary panic.
According to the post, due to hot weather, snakes are more aggressive. It also suggests buying snake repellents, among other inaccurate information.
“Yes, it's been very hot. Too hot for the snakes, which would rather move early and later in the day. They like warm weather, but not excessive heat. It’s also been windy, they don’t like the wind.
“They most certainly do not become more aggressive in hot weather. Sure, they’ve got more energy in the heat, but that just means they’re quicker to move away from you,” Evans explained.
“However, due to them being warmed up, it does make killing or capturing them more dangerous, as they have more energy to defend themselves.”
Evans added that repellents do not work.
He also said the message said bushes around houses attract rats.
“They do not. Rubbish does,” Evans said.
He said the message also includes other warnings, making out like snakes are out to get you.
“They are not. Be far more vigilant of human intruders, as they are far, far more dangerous,” Evans said.
Meanwhile, during a media briefing on Wednesday, eThekwini Municipality mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said since the strike began on February 27, the municipality has not been able to fulfil its mandate to provide some of the most basic services to the residents.
“Furthermore, we have been unable to attend to service delivery complaints including electricity faults, water interruption and refuse removal,” Kaunda said.
He said that since last week, a team of 300 volunteers has been put together to clean the Durban central business district (CBD) and secondary CBDs such as Pinetown, Isipingo, Verulam, oThongathi and Hillcrest. Priority has been given to healthcare facilities and businesses.
“We anticipate that we will be able to clear the waste backlog within two weeks, especially in the vast southern region of the city from uMlazi up to Umkhomazi. We are pleased that the resumption of refuse removal services has started, with 80% of our depots fully operational,” Kaunda said.
He also said that the provincial government in collaboration with the private sector and the city have embarked on a massive clean-up operation. This will see over 3 000 community workers taking part in this initiative. This will bring to 18 000 the number of volunteers that will be deployed in all corners of the municipality to clean areas that are worst affected by the strike. These efforts are being supported by the engagement of already existing contractors who have also started to reduce the waste collection backlog.
“We attribute the partial restoration of electricity, water and refuse collection services to the assistance we are receiving from law enforcement agencies and private securities who are playing a key role in escorting our staff to affected service delivery sites,” Kaunda added.
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