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BEAUFORT (AP) -- Golfers, security guards and others that spend a lot of time outdoors are noticing more snakes than usual slithering across South Carolina.

And that means more snake bites. Lowcountry orthopedic surgeon Joseph Tobin told The Beaufort Gazette he treated two snake bite victims on the same day last week.

A University of Georgia biologist blames a cold winter and wet spring for making snakes more active than usual.

Whitfield Gibbons says the cold compressed the breeding season for most snakes, leaving them about three weeks to do what they normally have six weeks to accomplish.

Gibbons says recent rains have increased the mice and frog populations, leaving hungry snakes on the hunt for food

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