Wichita ? The wet spring means Kansans may have some unwelcome guests in their homes and yards this summer, and more insect bites when they’re outside.

Wild creatures that find their homes or their food supply wet will move to drier ground, meaning snakes and skunks are showing up near – or inside – people’s homes. Mosquitoes and ticks also are proliferating, which health officials say could mean an increase in insect-borne diseases, such as West Nile.

The biggest health risk from rain is an increase in molds and allergies, and the main season for West Nile virus is from late July to late September. But people should not assume that mosquitoes flying around now don’t carry the virus.

“We know West Nile is going to occur,” said Stephen Grindel, a Wichita family physician. “With the increase in mosquitoes comes the greater increase of West Nile and encephalitis.”

The rains also mean more mites, ticks and chiggers. Ticks can carry the threat of Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

Also, termites and ants are more prevalent, said Larry Hawley, termite technician for Midwest Pest Control.

Snakes, mostly harmless rat snakes and bull snakes, are showing up in some yards and even going into homes through sump pump screens, dryer vents and tiny holes.

“Animals move to the nearest dry land,” said Joe Collins, Kansas Biological Survey herpetologist. “That means more visitors and that people should show certain amounts of caution where land and water meet.”

The snakes move into residential yards to chase rats and mice, which are looking farther afield for food until the waters recede, Collins said.

While it might cause humans some trouble, the wet season is good for many wild creatures.

For example, tiger salamanders are abundant this spring, which is good news for garter snakes that eat them, as well as the hawks that eat the snakes, said Travis Taggert, associate curator for herpetology at the Sternberg Museum in Hays.

“Out in western Kansas, it has been so dry for so many years, some of the amphibians skipped a few years in reproducing,” Taggert said. “This year, they’ve all been pretty successful. I don’t remember a year that so far has been as productive as this one.”