How to Get Rid of Snakes

For many homeowners, the sight of a snake is among the scariest of all pests. Whether a snake is venomous or not is almost beside the point, as many people suffer from ophidiophobia – the abnormal fear of snakes.

Given that it’s difficult for homeowners to easily identify venomous from non-venomous snakes, it’s better to call for professional pest control when you encounter a snake near your home. Let’s first speak to the most common non-venomous species:

Each species below is a member of the pit viper family, meaning these snakes have heat-sensing pits between the eye and nostril on each side of the head. These pits are used to sense changes in temperature, which typically leads to prey. All pit vipers are also notable for their triangular heads, thick bodies, and ridge-like scales. Again, it’s best to call for pest control if you find one on your property.

If you find a snakeskin indoors, your search will change as snakes are skilled at hiding in small spaces. Snakes are capable climbers, and you’ll need to examine locations in your home such as:

• Near heat sources and water pipes
• Piles of clothing and/or boxes
• Wall ledges and rafters
• Near and behind appliances
• Small cracks or openings near doors and windows

As mentioned, snakes are cold-blooded creatures and seek opportunities to conserve warmth. Some species hibernate, while others engage in brumation during winter. This simply means that their metabolism slows dramatically and they’re far less active. Snakes will attempt to eat more prior to brumation so they can survive the winter. Thinner snakes, however, may not survive the season.

Spring temperatures signal an end to both hibernation and brumation, and snakes look to sun themselves and begin mating behavior. In fact, some types will pursue a mate immediately upon the onset of warmer climates.

Snakes can be a huge fear for many people, and seeing one in your yard is likely to give anyone a fright. Luckily, snakes aren’t common pests. If you do see them on your property, it’s likely that it isn’t venomous and is simply passing through. It could even be helpful at removing rodents and other pests that can damage your plants and make their way inside your home. The main problem, however, is that they’re so successful at hiding that they can easily be stepped on by pets or children — a surefire way to be bitten.

It’s always best to leave a snake alone until you have the proper equipment and knowledge for removing them from your home or yard. Before beginning any treatment, make sure you’ve successfully inspected and identified the species of snake you’re dealing with and have found out if they’re poisonous or not. Afterwards, you can use regular preventative measures and understand how to get rid of a snake problem when you first notice any signs of one.

Snakes love to hide so that they can easily sneak up on prey and catch them. To prevent them from settling into your yard and home, there are several steps you can take to make your yard inhospitable for them and eliminate most of the hiding spots that they seek out:

• Clean Up Your Yard. Take the time to eliminate debris, trash and vegetation that builds up on your lawn. It’s best to rake regularly and never leave piles of leaves or branches sitting out. This also goes for toys, decorations and even rocks.
• Trim Your Trees and Shrubs. Don’t let your trees, bushes and shrubs become overgrown. Not only will they provide the perfect cover for snakes, but they’ll also create an ideal environment that insects like mosquitoes and roaches thrive in.
• Keep Your Grass Short. An overgrown yard can be unsightly, so it’s a constant reminder of when you need to be mowing the grass. This step is also especially important if you have pets and children, because snakes love to hide in tall grass. If they go unseen in the middle of your yard, they’re much more likely to be stepped on, and this will aggravate them and cause them to bite.
• Eliminate Moisture. In addition to the hiding spaces that backyards provide, they also tend to offer the perfect climate for snakes – cool and damp. There can be so many holes and objects in your yard that retain water, and these are all appealing to snakes. After it rains, check to see where water is pooling. Fill in any divots or holes in your yard as best as you can, and take the time to drain bird houses and flower pots that might still contain rainwater. Cleaning up your yard goes hand in hand with this step, because you’ll also be able to remove the debris that tends to soak up moisture and retain it.
• Mulch. In the areas where you already mulch around your house, you can switch to using sharper materials like rock chips and crushed up pine cones. Snakes won’t want to move over these materials, so they’ll act as a deterrent.

If you’ve already started seeing snakes coming around your property, the best way to prevent an infestation is to start making your property less and less appealing to them. There are a multitude of repellents you can buy at the store, and these usually come in granular or liquid spray form. They contain chemicals that emit an odor snakes hate, so they don’t try to go anywhere near them. You may also find nontoxic snake repellents on the market that are safe to use near pets and children.

You can even use the spray directly on snakes to cause them to flee, but it isn’t encouraged to deal with a snake in close proximity if you aren’t sure whether or not it’s venomous. If you know there are certain areas where snakes congregate around your home, you can also soak a piece of cloth, cotton ball or cotton-tipped swab with the solution and place it in the area. This will concentrate the smell and make it even worse for the snakes.

Find out what some of the best snake deterrents on the market are.

The only thing your fence doesn’t need to be is very high, but if you’d like to double its use as a privacy fence, you might as well invest in more material.

With the tongs, you should grab the snake about 1/3 of the way down its body – not too close to its head nor its tail. Too close to the head can be harmful to the snake, and closer to the tail will give it the room it needs to bite you. Once you have a secure grasp of it, slowly lift it up but don’t take it completely off of the ground. Instead, drag it away toward wherever you’ve decided to move it.

With this method, the snake can easily just slither back into your yard, so you’ll want to use some type of repellent as well.

Immediately notify a professional wildlife or pest control expert is if you begin noticing even one of the following signs of an infestation:

• More than one snake. They don’t live in colonies, but if you see a snake and smaller, younger ones, you’ll know that its eggs have hatched on your property.
• Snake skins
• Evidence of a nest or eggs

Even if you do feel you can successfully remove a snake on your own, always contact a professional or do the research necessary to find out what to do with a certain species. Snakes that are deemed invasive may need to be taken somewhere specific, and there are also laws protecting endangered and native snakes that determine how they’re dealt with.

If you can’t positively identify a snake on your property, call a professional if you believe it’s posing a threat to the safety of your family. Otherwise, a single snake will often move on within a day and isn’t going to cause any damage to you or your yard. If you have identified non-venomous snakes, you can usually treat it on your own if it isn’t known as dangerous or threatening. Any poisonous snakes you see should always be reported to professionals so they can deal with it in the best way possible and make sure you’re out of harm’s way.