Fountain Hills residents need no reminder that warming temperatures in the spring mean slumbering snakes will be aroused from a winter’s rest to a flurry of activity until summer’s heat slows them down again.

The snakes are crawling out of their winter rest to forage for food and get life going again after hibernation.

Fountain Hills Rural/Metro Fire Department Chief Scott LaGreca said people should use caution if they see a snake, but is urging citizens to consider carefully whether it is necessary to have the snake removed.

“We don’t want to be put in a position of killing them,” LaGreca said.

In many cases the calls to remove snakes are just not necessary.

“If they are in a yard that is not fenced or along the street, they are not hurting anyone and will move along on their own pretty quickly,” LaGreca said.

The criteria in which firefighters will respond without question include the following:

*A snake bite; this is an emergency medical call that will get immediate response.

*If the snake is in the house or garage.

*If the snake is preventing the person from getting in or out of the house.

*If the snake is trapped within an enclosed yard.

*If the snake is an im-minent threat to a person or pets.

LaGreca said something residents should keep in mind is that if they leave the house dur-ing daylight hours and don’t plan to be back be-fore dark, they should leave a light on so they can see a snake if there is one curled up at the front door.

Firefighters do not want to remove non-venomous snakes from the area where they are found.

The bull snake, for example, can be intimidating for its size and ap-pearance, but is actually a good snake to have around. It feeds on the same rodents as rattlesnakes, therefore making the area a place that rattlesnakes will not likely be found.

According to the Amer-ican Herpetological Association, snakes are an important and effective means of rodent control and help prevent diseases spread by the rodents.

As Fountain Hills has grown there are fewer and fewer places where firefighters can release a snake after they pick it up.

LaGreca said there are no open wash areas where there are no houses any-more, Fort McDowell does not want the snakes released there, and McDowell Mountain Regional Park poses a distance issue and may be getting overpopulated.

“We just relocate the snake to the nearest wash and it might be back,” LaGreca said. “We don’t want to be in a position of killing the snake, and there is also a financial consideration.”

LaGreca said it might be a round trip of five to 10 miles, and with 800 snakes a year, that can add up to a lot of fuel cost.

“We live in an urban interface area and this is a real nice place for snakes to live thanks to people,” LaGreca said.

There are also very few people who get bit by a snake, according to LaGreca.

He said as long as a person uses caution and looks where they put their hands or feet, such as avoiding bushes or rocks, and not deliberately provoking a snake, they probably will not get bit.