LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) – Heavy rain and flooding could be causing snakes to slither towards your home.
"When it rains, the snakes that like water have a whole lot more water to explore," said Neil Curry, Arkansas Game and Fish Nature Center Facility Director.
The water forces snakes out of their habitat, and when the water forces their food sources near homes, the snakes tend to follow.
Snakes that could make their way into your backyard are ring neck snake, the northern brown snake, and the speckled Kinghead.
"A terrestrial land snake that likes to eat mice, and the mice are by the creek and the creek floods, the mice are going to try to find high ground," Curry said. "So the snake would try to find the same place his food is going to try to find."
Only 6 of the 36 kinds of snakes in Arkansas are actually venomous: like the rattlesnake, copperhead, and cottonmouth.
"All snakes have teeth," Curry said. "So all snakes have the potential to bite. But not all snakes have venom."
Some land-loving like soaking up rays on warm land, so you might see them more when it's sunny.
If you want to keep them coming from into your home, there are things you can do:
- Keep your garage door closed
- Use expandable foam insulation to keep things sealed around the house
- Get rid of piles of wood and building materials outside
- Cut your grass short