Environmental Disaster in Burgas Region, Thousands of Snakes Crawl out on Roads

The situation near the village of Dimchevo, Burgas region may be described as a real eco-catastrophe. The recent floods, which made the local authorities declare partial state of emergency, drove thousands of animals out of their burrows and now they sprawled all over the place to seek shelter in order to survive. The situation with some of the species which at this time of the year are in winter hibernation or are cold-blooded is especially worrying, as the air temperatures now do not allow them to survive in the open for a long time, writes flagman.bg

Thousands of snakes crawled out on the road between the villages of Dimchevo and Prisad. A huge part of them have already perished, and without a warm hiding place, food and shelter, those who are still alive will die soon. Surging water has flooded the crevices where they hide out in winter and the snakes were forced to crawl out or drown. In this situation they cannot find new safe places and now found themselves in trap – without food, in the cold and doomed to perish.

The photos uploaded on the website are really shocking: hundreds of snakes, mainly whipsnakes of species Соlubеr саspius and blindworm (Аnguis frаgilis) crawled out in the open near the village of Dimchevo about two months before the end of their hibernation period. The species are not among the endangered but if their population in the region is extinct it will for sure have an impact on agriculture because, even if they are not such a pleasant sight, these reptiles help maintain a fragile ecological balance as they feed on small rodents.

We remind that yesterday mayor Dimitar Nikolov extended by 30 days the state of emergency in the village of Dimchevo.

Little by little the situation there returns to normal and water is being pumped out from the flooded buildings. The village was flooded during the torrential rains at the beginning of last week, which necessitated evacuation of people from about 40 houses. Fifteen of the houses located in the lowest part of the village have suffered great damages. Mayor’s deputy Elena Atanasova has been touring the village for three days now making an inventory of the damages with the assistance of municipal and state officials.  

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!