Why Are So Many Snakes Slithering Into Delhi This Monsoon?

Representative image (Source: The Hindu)

New Delhi: Snakes are showing up more often across Delhi this monsoon in backyards, store rooms stairwells and even under parked cars. Wildlife helplines are reporting an unprecedented rise in such calls. At first glance, it feels like an unusual coincidence. But this is not so. This is what happens when concrete replaces forest and when the rain arrives.

As the city expands and green cover shrinks, these reptiles are finding new spaces to hide and hunt, often closer to people than ever before.

On July 28, a snake appeared on a road divider at bustling Chandni Chowk. Just days later, one slithered out from a Noida high-rise. A three-foot royal snake was found hiding behind a cot in a leafy South Delhi home. These sightings are becoming frequent, and so are the emergency calls.

Monsoon months bring the highest number of snake rescues in the city. Wildlife SOS, a Delhi-based conservation group, receives dozens of alerts each week. From plush government bungalows to cramped resettlement colonies, the calls come from everywhere.

They often find snakes hiding in dark corners, seeking shelter from waterlogged burrows.

Government data backs the trend. Delhi’s forest department reports 157 snake rescues between May and July this year. Most of these snakes were non-venomous.

The Wildlife SOS estimates it relocates more than 100 snakes per month during the rainy season. And these are only the reported cases.

Some groups are more at risk than others. Sanitation workers and people in informal settlements often face the most direct encounters.

Most snakes in India are harmless. Of the 310 species, only 66 are venomous or semi-venomous. But four, the “Big Four”, are responsible for most fatal bites. They are Common Krait, Indian Cobra, Russell’s Viper and Saw-Scaled Viper.

So why are snakes coming out more often? Professor Gaurav Barhadiya of Ramanujan College has been studying the pattern for years. He points to monsoon triggers such as lush growth, breeding season and a rise in small prey like rats and squirrels. Rain draws them out. Since their food is out, so they are out too.

Climate change, he says, is another factor. People think snake numbers are growing, but that is not true. The reptiles are more visible now because their habitat is shrinking, and the earth’s temperature is rising.

In the summer, snakes seek cooler places like under AC vents, near refrigerators and inside bathrooms.

So how do we keep them away?

We cannot rebuild forests, but we can preserve what we have. Make them reptile-friendly and let the natural system absorb them again.