There are more places for deadly western brown snakes to hide along the streets of Alice Springs thanks to overgrown verges, paths and parks after recent summer rain.
For the past 20 years, prisoner work crews from the Alice Springs Correctional Centre would work for the Town Council to help maintain parks and verges.
That agreement has been suspended thanks to an ongoing dispute over public liability.
Local snake catcher Rex Neindorf said the overgrown grass potentially exposed residents to highly venomous snakes.
Mr Neindorf said the grass provided a perfect habitat for the reptiles to conceal themselves.
Residents should avoid walking through the grass, he added.
"If you're walking on a path and you're in town, walk in the centre of the path.
"Take the dogs in the centre of the path as well, because there's been quite a few dogs been bitten lately."
No public liability
Council chief executive Robert Jennings said the reason behind the lack of work crews was that the NT government wanted the council to be responsible for the public liability.
"The insurance was previously done by Northern Territory government; now that's flicked to ASTC and we're trying to find insurance for that," he said.
Mr Jennings said that under the previous arrangement, the correctional centre would supply a crew of about 10 people for up to 300 hours' work a week.
"They not only do verges, they do a whole range of work for us.
"If we were able to pay some sort of insurance, we'd be happy to because there's value for money there beyond the fact that we're also allowing people to take on different skills and do things as well."
He said both the correctional centre and the council were disappointed at the situation.
"We're sad to see it not happen, but that's why we're both working together in our respective areas to see what we can do about it."
The council was finding it difficult to secure insurance, he added.
"Now that [council insurers have] seen the proposed agreement, they can't proceed with that."
In a statement, a spokesperson from the Department for Attorney-General and Justice said the correctional centre was looking to continue to work with the council in a way that appropriately managed the liability of each party.
Vouchers for verges
An interim measure that was passed at the most recent council meeting was that residents could maintain their own verges in exchange for a $30 council voucher.
Mayor Matt Paterson said the offer was capped at $20,000 — or 666 vouchers.
"Hopefully we see good uptake and people get out there and get their $30 for the three council facilities," he said.
"It is only for single-dwelling residents and not for multi-dwelling residents such as units."
