Drought Brings Snake Alert in Tennessee Valley

Drought in the Tennessee Valley this year is so severe that it has everyone worried. Farmers worry about harvesting enough hay to see their cows through the winter; landscapers worry that water rationing will damage their work; mayors worry that the town water supply will not hold out. As a multiple snakebite survivor, I worry when the headlines of The Decatur Daily reads, "Snake alert in the Valley." According to writer Tiffeny Hurtado, area snakes are on the move in search of water, and no source of liquid is immune to their hunt. Snakes find the dog water, the drain pipes, and the crawl spaces. With the Valley drier than it has been in 118 years and rainfall fifty-one percent below normal, the snakes are in search of moisture and food because their food supplies, mainly field mice, have less to eat during a drought, and so are not as plentiful. "Bill Gates, a wildlife biologist at the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, said snakes are on the move to find wet habitats because the drought is drying up their usual haunts." Two nights ago, Marty McCaghren, a farmer in Morgan County was relaxing in his recliner, feeling quite secure, when he glanced up to see a snake waving at him from the window not two feet away.