11,994 Snakes Find Cool Place Due To Extreme Heat

Total catch snakes that made the Civil Defence Department (CDD) in the country during the first three months of this year, reported increased due to extreme hot weather conditions.

Civil Defence Director General Datuk Ogu Salim Omar said from January to March, a total of 11,994 cases of snake catches recorded by the department, an increase of 603 cases compared to the same period last year.

"This year our country for the summer and dry, so the snake was trying to find a cool refuge, fleeing from hot places such as inside the house," he said.

He was speaking to reporters after closing the annual Camp Defense Cloud Polytechnic Malaysia Series 3 2016 at Politeknik Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Pahang (POLISAS) in Kuantan today.

Ogu Salim said a growing awareness among the people about the abilities of the CDD tame reptiles were also among the factors increased the cases handled by the agency.

"I also want to advise the public when this venomous animals found not to act alone because there are many kinds of snakes such as cobras and pythons that people do not know.

"So go ahead and just call the MERS (Malaysian Emergency Response Services) 999. We are always ready to provide services ranging from highly trained personnel to help deal with the emergency situation," he said.

Meanwhile, he plans to increase the number of Civil Defence Emergency Response Team Civil Defence at the community level.

The move, he said in an effort to train villagers on how to handle emergency cases in advance while waiting for rescue personnel arrived at the scene.

Ogu Salim said that so far more than 4,000 team members across the country that have led the village chief who had trained with the Basic Civil Defence.

"They (villagers) trained in handling a situation before rescuers arrived, such as floods, what to do to help the community before rescuers arrived," he said.

- Bernama