Seasonality and frequency of snake and goanna incursions on an Australian agricultural institute and the attitudes of staff regarding coexistence

Abstract

A number of snakes and goannas persist in areas frequented by humans, such as the Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute in New South Wales, Australia. This institute is used as both an office location and an agricultural demonstration site, which inevitably results in snakes and goannas coming close to institute buildings, prompting concerns for human safety. Reports of snakes and goannas within 100m of institute buildings were collected over a three-year period; an analysis of those data identified a seasonal pattern of incursions by three species between September and March. A short verbal survey revealed that more staff had encountered goannas than snakes. Most were cautious to curious when snakes and goannas were reported, whereas only a minority admitted to being fearful when snakes were reported.