Dubai: Snakes slithering along villa gardens have unnerved residents of Al Shorooq, a new development near Mushrif Park, XPRESS has learnt.
The appearance of an "unusually" high number of these uninvited reptilian guests prompted at least 15 frantic calls from Al Shorooq residents to Dubai Municipality in April, with the most recent one being on May 2, officials said. Ebrahim Abdul Majeed, head of the public services unit at the municipality's Public Health Pest Control Section, said poisonous snakes cannot be poisoned - only driven away with chemicals.
‘No poison for snakes'
"We were called many times to Shorooq but didn't catch any (snakes). There's no poison for snakes," he said.
"We have already used 40 litres of ‘Snake Away' (a snake repellent) to treat different points of Al Shorooq - for free."
He said a preventative pest-control treatment should have been done first in the area before it was built up. The community is developed by Dubai Properties.
Abdul Majeed added that since the area is a private community, the developer must hire one of the private pest control firms to treat it and respond to residents' calls. "Even Emaar and Nakheel retain one of the many private pest-control companies," he said.
Snakes are common here, he said, adding that in 2009, the section received 41 snake-related calls or complaints - an average of four per month -- down from 48 in 2008.
"Some types bury themselves in the sand - and it's that time of the year when they look for cooler places as the summer nears," said Abdul Majeed.
Hisham Al Yahha, head of the section, advised residents to kill snakes - if they can -- when they see one or call 800-900, the civic body's hotline.
Four of the 11 snake species found in the UAE are highly venomous. Dr Reza Khan, a specialist at Dubai Zoo, said it is possible the snakes spotted in Shurooq were some of the venomous species common in the UAE. "There are three snakes here that are common and highly venomous," said Khan, referring to saw-scaled viper (found everywhere), the carpet viper (found in mountains and foothills) and the sand viper (desert dwellers). A fourth, the poisonous false horned viper, is found in the mountains.
A comment from the developer was not available
