ATLANTA (AP) — Authorities say snake bites are on the rise in Georgia after the mild winter.

WSB-TV reports (http://bit.ly/3zVcAZ ) that poisonous snakes have already attacked more than 100 people in metro Atlanta.

Officials say that about 400 Georgians are treated for snake bites each year. Already this year, 120 state residents have been treated for bites.

Dr. Gaylord Lopez, director of the Georgia Poison Center, says that rate is higher than it typically is.

The center usually begins to get reports of snakebites around March 1. Lopez says that this year, the first bite was in January.