SUMMER is now well under way and snakes are on the move in Mount Gambier, but they are not the only native wildlife that have ventured into the city.
A number of swamp wallabies have been sighted bounding through the city streets, with a car striking one on Wireless Road West last week.
However, snake catcher and wildlife enthusiast David Miles revealed the sightings are not uncommon and said people were often misinformed about the native animal.
“This is not new, they have been venturing into Mount Gambier for decades, but most people think they are Kangaroos,” Mr Miles said.
“These are often male swamp wallabies and we are not really sure why they venture into the city.”
Mr Miles advised against chasing the wallabies and suggested the community just allowed them to go about their business.
“Accidents do happen and that is a part of life, but the risk increases when members of the public try to chase the animal and catch it, that’s how cars become involved when they bound onto roads,” Mr Miles said.
“If they are in your yard, leave the gate open – they found their way into town, so they will often find there way out of it.”
Mr Miles said his family recently took on a joey, which a person had found in the pouch of a kangaroo they had hit and killed.
“It was a top little ‘roo, we reared it and released it back into the wild,” he said.
“If you do hit a kangaroo, you should always check to see if there is a young one with it.”
Other animals such as possums and birds have also come to the attention of Mr Miles in the past, which have either been injured or orphaned.
“We still deal with birds that get injured, I still have a kookaburra, which was hit by a truck and the tawny frogmouth we have had since it was a little ball of fluff,” Mr Miles said.
However, with summer in full swing he revealed the phone was mainly ringing for snakes.
“I have been called out to about six snakes in the last two weeks, so they are definitely starting to move,” he said.
“Before that I did not really have many call-out because the weather was still quite mild, but it has ramped up recently.”
Mr Miles said the call-outs included a snake at house on Canavan Road, which bit the residents dog.
“The dog obviously found it and had a crack at it, which stirred up the snake,” he said.
“I did not end up finding out whether the dog survived.”
On Thursday, Mr Miles had a call-out to Wye and Tarpeena where he located both a tiger snake and a lowland copperhead.
He said they were the most common breed of snakes he found throughout the Limestone Coast.
