Dunlop children who might have flocked to their local park these school holidays have been thwarted by parents who are worried knee-deep grass in the area has become a breeding ground for dangerous snakes and spiders.
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Resident Chris Eriksson says he has been too scared to let his three children, who are all aged under eight, play on the equipment at the park on the corner of Archdall Street and Hugh Mackay Crescent without supervision, for fear of what could lurk in the grass at its edges.
"I'm six-foot-two and the grass is up to my knees and beyond," Mr Eriksson said.
"We've just had the school holidays and kids can't play there."
Mr Eriksson said residents faced a "constant battle" as territory government mowers would sometimes clip the grass verges which surrounded the park, but rarely touched the patch of long, overgrown grass near the play equipment.
He said a brown snake which he spotted slithering out of the grass last weekend had only escalated residents' fears, especially with the start of snake season this month.
"The kids want to use the park but I'm not going to send my kids down there when I've seen a brown snake there," Mr Eriksson said.
"Snakes won't go on cut grass because they know they could get picked up by a magpie or a crow, but they will go into long grass because they know they'll be camouflaged," he said.
The grass near the play equipment had only been mown irregularly since Mr Eriksson returned to Canberra from Sydney to live in 2011, he said.
"It wasn't really an issue until I had kids, but they've only really cut it once or twice a year and it's just left to be overgrown.
"Why would you mow around the perimeter of the park and leave the park to become a grass-infested area for snakes and spiders?"
Mr Eriksson said if the government didn't want to maintain the park, it should simply get rid of it altogether.
He had complained previously and was told the grass had grown quickly due to recent rain in the area and mowers hadn't had a chance to cut it.
A Territory and Municipal Services spokeswoman said the park would be mowed next week as part of the territory government's scheduled mowing program.
The spokeswoman said a likely explanation for the difference in grass height could be related to differences in grass species, with some types growing much more quickly than others.
"The mowing program aims to balance the differences in grass characteristics, climatic conditions, safety and available budget," she said.
Territory and Municipal Services Minister Shane Rattenbury said he'd been assured the park would be mown in coming days.
"I understand it's frustrating for the community to see their local parks overgrown like this, but at this time of year we do have a lot of new growth right across the city.
"TAMS is doing their absolute best to get around to mowing all the parks and reserves as quickly as they can.
"In the meantime, I would encourage parents to discourage kids from entering long grass areas, and check the TAMS mowing schedule to see if you can find another park in your local area that has been recently mowed."
The TAMS spokeswoman warned snakes were much more prevalent at this time of year as they were coming out of hibernation.
"Snakes will be found in open spaces, particularly in areas like Dunlop which is surrounded by bushland or parkland habitat.
"While as a community we need to be aware that snakes are part of our bush capital, it is important to know that if left alone snakes will move on or away from the area."
