LEANDER, TEXAS — In one Leander neighborhood, pets are experiencing close encounters of the reptilian kind, as in rattlesnakes. Several pets have been bitten in the past few days, including a pair of Boston Terriers struck by snake fangs in the face, according to reports.

The rash of snake bites has occurred at homes in the North Creek subdivision in Leander, according to KXAN. Jodi Chandler told the news station she let her two Boston terriers go outside last Thursday only to have them both bitten on the face by a rattlenake. Thankfully, the dogs were okay but left with severely swollen mugs resulting in costly veterinary care, she told the news station.

Another resident just a block away, Micah Brown reported finding a baby rattlesnake in his flowerbed as he tended to his yard, according to the report. Other neighbors have reported similar events, with police responding to another pair of rattlesnake calls last week, a city spokesman told KXAN. Lloye Acevedo told the news station she's been extra vigilant of her own three dogs in the wake of recent attacks. She noted that in the 18 years she's lived in the subdivision, she's never encountered snakes. "I ton't like it," she told the news station. "I don't like it at all."

On the same block as Acevedo, two neighbors reportedly killed a pair of rattlesnakes in their respective yards, according to the news station. Samuel Morehead, a local veterinarian at the Leander Veterinary Clinic, told KXAN he's treated more than two dozen animals for snake bites recently — a number he categorized as unusually high.

It's being speculated that municipal growth may be to blame for the rash of snake bites. City officials point to new development near Devine Lake Park as likely driving snakes from their habitats there into Northcreek subdivision neighborhoods, according to the report.

It's always advisable to remove debris from properties that can be inviting hiding or resting places for snakes. This includes not just remving lumber or firewood, but moving furniture and trimming overgrown grass and bushes.