Are you being bothered by Snakes, don’t worry,
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You can take matters into your own hands and fix things so that you may never see a snake in those places again. If these steps are followed thoughly and carefully, you should be able to live in
a reasonably snake-free environment.
Before doing anything else, survey your home, yard, and neighborhood for potential snake, mouse, or rat feeding or harborage areas. Any place that is hospitable to mice, rats, toads, frogs, and geckos, is also highly attractive to snakes, because rodents and anurans are the favorite prey of most snakes, including our common rat snakes, hog-nosed snakes, and garter snakes, but also including venomous pit vipers such as copperheads, cottonmouths, and rattlesnakes. Venomous coral snakes, too, favor places where they can find abundant prey (mostly small snakes), and ready-made shelter. The most likely places where snakes and their prey congregate involve a. The vicinity of, and sometimes within, bird feeders* (except hummingbird feeders),
b. Within and around woodpiles,
c. Within and around rock piles,
d. Within and around piles of leaves, tree limbs, or weeds,
d. Within and around stacks of debris, masonry**, or un-racked firewood*** lying on the ground,
e. Within expanses of uncut weeds or grasses, both in the yard, and bordering the yard within 10 feet of the yard perimeter,
f. Within the confines of thick and impenetrable shrubbery, and
g. Occupying harborage space in, around, and beneath structures such as fence and foundation voids, mobile homes, homes and/or garages on pier & beam foundations, sheds, dog houses, playhouses, and the like.
2. For all but the last item in the above list, the obvious fix is to correct and/or remove these feeding and/or harborage areas from your yard. However, except for bird feeders*, it is generally unwise to undertake such removal operations without first observing certain precautions, and then planning the removal carefully.
3. For harborage space in, around, and under structures that serve important functions, the fix is to seal such spaces wherever possible using
a. sand, decayed granite, or fine gravel to fill voids in dry stack rock fences, gaps between patios and home foundations, and ;
b. hardware cloth with a mesh of 1/4th inch or less for gaps that require ventilation, burying the bottom 6-12 inches of hardware cloth in the soil,
c. caulk, metal sheathing or wood planking for gaps that do not require ventilation
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Caution: note first that if you are not sure if ventilation of the sealed void will be compromised by the contemplated sealant, it is wise to consult someone in the building trades for advice, as tightly sealing a space that is subject to constant or intermittent high-moisture conditions will lead to wood rot; second: never place wood in contact with the soil, to avoid the risk of a termite infestation;
third, if the void you are sealing presently houses mice or rats, it is wise to treat such voids with rodent baits first, before sealing the void
fourth, if the void you are sealing presently houses larger animals, such as ferrel cats or dogs, foxes, armadillos, opossums, raccoons, squirrels, or skunks–the void should be sealed with a one-way door that allows the animal to exit without letting them re-enter; however, sealing the void at the wrong time of year may lead to the presence of a litter of young in the void, and that can lead to other problems; in such cases it is wise to consult a animal control specialist such as BlueJay Termite and Pest for advice before proceeding.
Regarding sealing your home to prevent rodents and snakes from entering from outside: Many authorities recommend the use of caulk and other liquid/gel/silicone and similar sealants (as opposed to the use of hardware cloth and other screening materials) that fully obstruct any and all ingress/egress ports that your home or business has in its outer walls, and in its roof. In my experience, which spans more than fifty years of working with residential and business structures in Missouri, Florida, New York, and Texas, it is generally unwise to undertake vigorous sealing projects of that nature to fully seal all potential ingress/egress ports in a building. In the process, one inevitably obstructs and closes off the routes by which moisture in interior walls and voids is wicked and ventilated to the outside. Normal wicking and ventilation of such moisture aids in reducing the risk of wood rot and fungal growth. Furthermore, such processes restrict the flow of air between the home interior and the outside environment, leading to additional health issues. Health professionals recommend that the entire air-content of a home be fully exchanged with outside air at least twice a day, so that collections of toxic fumes from furnishings, cooking appliances, etc., will remain within healthy limits. Homes that are carefully sealed with caulk/gels/silicone or similar sealants to prevent entry of rodents, insects, and snakes, inevitably trap moisture and toxic gases. That is unhealthy for the structure itself, and for the humans and pets that occupy that structure. Instead of relying on such unhealthy practices, use screening and hardware cloth wherever possible, and consider taking as many steps as appropriate on the outside of your home or business to create an environment that neither nurtures or attracts pests of any kind.
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4. For harborage areas that are not under your control, find out who is responsible for them and request, preferably in writing, that they be corrected or removed. If such harborage areas are on property belonging to a business or governmental entity, consider taking photographs to support your complaint, and submit them along with your written request that corrective action be taken. Do not be dismayed if the business or governmental entity you deal with is less than cooperative. It seems more typical today than in any time in the recent past that some businesses and governments tend to think that they are not responsible for the health hazards that exist on the properties under their control. If you experience a lack of cooperation, document the conditions well, with photographs and text, and take your case to the next level. You may have to become something of an irritating gadfly to get things done, but eventually you will prevail. I speak from experience on this.
5. For all snake, mouse, or rat harborage areas under your direct control, it is wise to begin dealing with them by taking precautionary steps to prepare them for correction or removal: these include
a. treating the harborage areas with a commercial mouse & rat bait, carefully following the directions on the label for the bait that you use, and waiting a suitable period of time to insure no mice or rats remain in those areas (there are no baits for toads and anurans, but removal of harborage will suffice to make them move elsewhere);
b. treating intractable harborage areas
with a snake repellent, carefully following the directions supplied by the manufacturer for the snake repellent of your choice, then waiting a suitable period of time to reduce the risk that snakes remain in those areas.
After the above precautionary steps have been carried out:
6. Remove the harborage areas completely, or pay someone else to have the harborage areas removed for you. BUT REMEMBER THIS FIRST: Snake harborage areas may continue to harbor snakes, even after you have removed their prey and treated the area with snake repellent, as they remain attractive as places of congregation. When contracting with someone to remove harborage areas for you, make sure they have the competence to know what they are doing and are willing and able to accept the risks involved. When attempting to remove woodpiles, rock piles, piles of debris, etc., yourself, take appropriate precautions, including but not limited to, (a) wearing heavy, leather, and, if possible, specially constructed snake-proof boots on your feet, (b) following safe practices such as never disturbing a portion of harborage with a hand or foot; use a long-handled pry-tool instead, and (c) taking the time to survey underneath all the harborage you are removing, using a bright flashlight or other bright light source, for possible snakes that may be hiding there.
Suggestion: If possible, conduct harborage removal during the winter months, when outside temperatures are low and cold-blooded reptiles are more likely to be hibernating underground (but remember that snakes may still be found in such areas, and though they will be sluggish from the cold, they can still bite. Also, conduct harborage removal during daylight hours, on a sunny day, when you will have good visibility and will be more likely to observe a snake that is being sheltered beneath a portion of harborage you are in the process of moving.
7. Once all the harborage areas under your control have been removed,
a. regularly treat your home, garage, sheds, and storage areas thereafter with mouse and rat bait (always follow the label directions, to the letter) to insure rodents will not take up residence in such areas in the future,
b. regularly treat the perimeters of your yard, home, sheds, and shrubbery with a snake repellent, replenishing those treatments in accordance with the manufacturer’s directions for the snake repellent of your choice,
c. keep the grass in your yard, and on the border of your yard within 10 feet of your yard’s perimeter, cut to less than 2 inches at all times, and
d. frequently check for and correct all new rodent and snake harborage areas that pop up over time, keeping in mind that such areas tend to arise unbidden as the natural accompaniment of ordinary life, and should be found and remedied as quickly as possible in order to keep the risk of snake encounters as low as possible.
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