A West Australian wildlife rescuer says large mouse populations are to blame for a big increase in snake call-outs this year.
GG Wildlife Rescue owner Michelle Jones, who is based in the Midwest, says snake sightings are up by 30 per cent compared to last year.
"It doesn't mean they weren't there [before], it just means that maybe people are noticing them a little bit more and there could be a lot of factors involved with that," she said.
"We've had a bumper mice year this year, which means that snake sightings have increased, because they're out hunting.
Stretched out season
Ms Jones said the sightings were also happening over a longer period of time than normal.
"In particular one Sunday there were six calls for snakes in the month of February," she said.
"September, October and November are primarily my busy months and it has definitely extended into January, February and now March."
Ms Jones said sightings of hatchlings had increased by 80 per cent this year.
"In the 14 years that I've been out here actively out catching reptiles, I've never seen so many hatchlings," she said.
"I'm seeing them really small, really young.
Scales of diversity
Ms Jones said she was also spotting a wider variety of baby serpents and lizards.
"Different variety colours of hatchling gwardars … the legless lizards, the Stimson pythons, the hatchling carpet pythons," she said.
"The Jan's banded hatchling — I've never seen one as tiny as the one that I spotted maybe four weeks ago.
"Even the tiny, cutest little baby whip snake that I spotted … he would have fit under a 10-cent coin.
