Keeping your yard well maintained is probably the most critical step involved in minimizing snake activity. Making sure your grass is regularly cut, trimming bushes and shrubs, and removing piles of debris (rock, wood, or other) will create an environment that isn’t very “snake-friendly” and will make your yard much less likely to attract snakes in the first place.
Snakes are fascinating creatures that play a very important role in our ecosystem. When they find their way into our homes or gardens, however, it can cause fear, anxiety, and concern for many (ok, most) people. While most of the snakes we have here in the Upstate are completely harmless to humans, it only makes sense to take precautions to reduce their presence in and around your home. Here are a few tips….
- Keep your yard tidy:
Keeping your yard well maintained is probably the most critical step involved in minimizing snake activity. Making sure your grass is regularly cut, trimming bushes and shrubs, and removing piles of debris (rock, wood, or other) will create an environment that isn’t very “snake-friendly” and will make your yard much less likely to attract snakes in the first place.
- Seal potential entry points:
Inspect your home’s exterior (windows, walls, and foundation) for any gaps or cracks that could serve as potential entry points for snakes. These openings should be sealed. It’s also important to remember that snakes don’t want to be in your home, the only reason they’ll enter is because there’s a food source, typically rodents. Sure, they’ll crawl in an old rodent/chipmunk burrow to ‘explore’, but they’re not particularly interested in ‘living’ in your home if there isn’t an abundant food source.
- Install a physical barrier:
As mentioned above, creating a physical barrier is the easiest way to keep snakes out. Snake-proof fencing can be installed around any area you want to remain snake-free. Examples are gardens, yards, pool areas, etc. The fence should be constructed of a sturdy material such as galvanized mesh or hardware cloth with gaps no larger than a quarter of an inch. When installing it, make sure to bury the bottom edge a few inches to prevent snakes from burrowing underneath.
- Removing potential food sources:
Snakes are attracted to areas with abundant prey, such as rodents, birds, bird nests, or lizards. You can reduce their food sources by making sure there are no bird nests on the structure and making sure there are no lizards, frogs, or rodents in the area.
- Let nature take its course:
When trying to reduce the likelihood of a snake encounter, it’s often beneficial to encourage natural predators of snakes, such as owls and hawks, by installing nest boxes or perches nearby.
- Educate yourself:
Learning about the snakes here in the Upstate, including the venomous species, their habitats, and behaviors, is the most important tool we have when dealing with snakes. Understanding the difference between venomous and non-venomous snakes and recognizing/appreciating their importance in our ecosystem will help reduce unnecessary fear and (hopefully) promote coexistence.
It’s important to remember that the goal when it comes to snakes, especially the non-venomous ones, is to strike a balance between snake mitigation and maintaining a balanced and healthy ecosystem. And if there is only one takeaway, please remember, most snakes are harmless and play a vital role in maintaining the delicate balance of nature. Before you kill that snake, please consider the following…
We often get panicked calls for a mouse in the kitchen or basement. If you perform some simple “back-of-the-napkin” math, considering the average rat snake eats an estimated 9 pounds of mice a year and the average mouse weighs .75 oz., the average rat snake eats somewhere around 192 mice a year, give or take. So, before you kill it, please consider the alternative. Focus your efforts on snake-proofing your home and making the area immediately surrounding your home less attractive to snakes, and they’ll be perfectly content in the woods or down by the creek where they belong and will happily work their hardest making sure you don’t have a rodent infestation….
