Why Alice Springs Airport is visited by snakes in summertime

Venomous* snakes are visiting one Australian airport for the summer, but they aren’t lining up for a trip overseas.

Airport Development Group – which oversees Alice Springs Airport – has started to monitor for snakes as the weather gets hotter, a spokeswoman said.

It comes after one source told the NT News there were “dozens” of snakes spotted at the airport last summer.

The sightings ranged from inside the terminal to outside on the grounds, according to the source, who said it was quite an issue.

One snake even slithered its way right into the airport’s Qantas lounge, Alice Springs based snake catcher Rex Neindorf said, where his team removed it.

“We’ve pulled them out from the departure doors and the welcome doors and where people go to book onto the plane and put their luggage,” he said.

“So you name it – they pop up everywhere.”

Mr Neindorf said he mostly removed “mildly venomous” whip snakes and “highly venomous” western brown snakes from the airport grounds.

He once had to remove two western brown snakes from inside the terminal – an unenviable* job as the species ranks among Australia’s most dangerous.

“One was in the main part of the building where all the passengers could go past and the other was in an office where the workers were,” he said. “We ended up catching both of those.”

WHY SNAKES ARE VISITING THE AIRPORT
Charles Darwin University adjunct research fellow and conservation biologist* Dr Chris Jolly said while he’s never personally seen a snake inside the Alice Springs airport, he wasn’t surprised some had been spotted inside.

“A snake doesn’t know that an airport terminal or somebody’s house is ‘human habitat’,” Dr Jolly said. “To the snake, it’s simply part of the landscape – and if it offers shade, shelter, water or food, it can look like pretty good habitat.”

“There is likely a healthy population of snakes around the airport, and an individual is occasionally going to slither into a building that we regard as human habitat – a distinction that unfortunately we have failed to effectively communicate to the snakes!”

With summer on its way in Central Australia, snakes are on the move looking for places to keep cool, Dr Jolly said.

“Snakes don’t particularly enjoy extreme heat any more than we do,” he said. “When Central Australia gets really hot, they generally avoid the hottest part of the day – either staying under cover or shifting more of their activity into the evening and night.”

However, multiple snake sightings do not mean there’s been an explosion in the local snake population, he added.

“It can simply mean that weather conditions have produced a period in which more snakes are moving around and therefore more likely to be noticed,” he said.

Qantas media directed questions from the NT News to Airport Development group, who oversee the Alice Springs Airport, alongside the airports in Darwin and Tennant Creek.

Questions sent to ADG included requesting exactly how many snakes had been sighted at the airport, including inside the terminal; if snakes had been found in the Qantas lounge; what the airport’s snake and pest mitigation* strategies were; and what their response was to the claim of “dozens” of snake sightings inside the terminal.

In response, an ADG spokeswoman said: “At this time of year, snakes become very active; Alice Springs Airport monitors areas of concern and alerts passengers with signage.

“We have an arrangement to call a snake catcher who assist with snake relocation,” the spokeswoman said.

Mr Neindorf said he’d delivered a snake safety course to airport staff at Alice Springs and that he wasn’t aware of any injuries from snakes inside the airport or on the grounds.

“They’re very well versed in what they do out there,” he said.

HOW TO STAY SAFE FROM SNAKES
With snake season upon us, it’s important to know how to keep yourself and your pets safe. Here are some things you can do to avoid crossing paths with a snake while bushwalking:

• Stay on clear trails and avoid densely vegetated areas.
• You can use a stick to make noise and signal your approach to snakes, who will usually retreat or hide when hearing low-frequency sounds like footsteps.
• When crossing fallen logs, step onto them rather than over them, as a snake may be on the other side.
• Avoid placing your feet or hands in areas where visibility is limited or restricted.
• For added protection, wear loose-fitting long pants and boots that cover your ankles.
• If you do see a snake, stay calm and take slow, backwards steps to create distance between yourself and the snake. Make sure you give the snake plenty of space to avoid it feeling threatened.
• Keep your pets safe by keeping them on a leash and far away from the snake. If you come across a snake when walking your dog, you could back away and change routes to avoid crossing the snake’s path. If your dog is small you could carry your dog until you are away from the snake if it is safe to do so.
• Never handle a snake – even if it’s a non-venomous python. These snakes can still bite and constrict when feeling threatened. Alert an adult instead.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• venomous: able to inject poison through biting or stinging
• habitat: natural environment where a plant or animal lives
• unenviable: something so difficult or unpleasant that no-one else wants to do it
• conservation biologist: a scientist studying plant and animal biodiversity with the goal of protecting endangered species and repairing natural habitats
• mitigation: the act of making something less damaging or severe

EXTRA READING
Male snakes’ wild ‘wrestling match’
Bird versus snake – who will win?
What you need to know this snake season

QUICK QUIZ
1. Why do snakes enter the Alice Springs airport in summer?
2. What are some species of snake that snake catcher Rex Neindorf has caught there?
3. Why should you never handle a wild snake?
4. What should you do if you come across a snake?
5. How can you alert snakes to your presence while bushwalking?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Headline alternatives
The original headline uses humour to grab the reader’s attention. Work individually or with a partner to create five different headlines for this article for different purposes and record them below.

• A serious headline
• A funny headline
• A headline to encourage the reader to read article about snake safety
• A headline to create awareness about snake dangers
• A headline that emphasis the importance of understanding wildlife

Which headline would you choose to best suit this article?

Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
How might Alice Springs Airport provide some of a snake’s basic survival needs?

List their needs and why the airport is an attractive option.

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Imaginative dialogue
Imagine you were there during the event being discussed in the article, or for the interview.

Create a conversation between two characters from the article - you may need or want to include yourself as one of the characters. Don’t forget to try to use facts and details from the article to help make your dialogue as realistic as possible.

Go through your writing and highlight any punctuation you have used in green. Make sure you carefully check the punctuation used for the dialogue and ensure you have opened and closed the speaking in the correct places.