How to Get Rid of Snakes in the Most Humane Way
Though a snake's presence in your backyard or garden can be quite terrifying, you needn't be afraid since only around 600 out of 3,000 species of snakes are venomous. When dealing with a snake, it is important to be extremely vigilant of your actions.
Gardenerdy Staff
Last Updated: May 23, 2018
Note:You should only try to deal with a snake if you are cent percent sure that the species is not venomous. If you have a slightest doubt about the same, you should seek help from a professional snake catcher.
Snakes prefer to stay hidden away from the sun and like to live in cool, shaded areas. They can be most commonly found in bushes, sandy areas, tall grass, compost areas, under logs, junk or trash.
A snake will enter homes or gardens if it is in search of shelter or food. Some people attempt to kill a snake, as soon as they set sight on it. However, most snakes found near the home or backyard are non-venomous and harmless; rather, we can say they are beneficial to humans.
How You Can Get Rid of Snakes
Many homeowners, especially in rural areas, have experienced the problem of snakes turning up on their property at some time or the other. If you notice a snake in your home or backyard, you can physically remove it by either holding it down yourself with the help of a snake hook or snake tongs, or taking the help of a snake wrangler.
It is however advisable to adopt proper preventive measures to keep them away because if bitten, a snakebite can be prove to be fatal and even life-threatening.
Prevention is better than cure and, hence, you must know how to get rid of snakes in case they happen to enter your home or backyard.
If you want to keep the snakes out of your yard, then make sure that there are no bushes, shrubs or thick foliage around your home, as these are natural habitats of snakes.
Avoid accumulation of garbage outside the house or in the garden, as an such area is an ideal hiding place for snakes.
Always keep the garden clean by removing garden debris, like dried leaves and branches of trees. If necessary, make landscaping changes in your garden.
Generally, snakes prefer to take shelter in tall grass as they are also home to various rodents and insects including squirrels, mice, grasshoppers and crickets, hence, becoming an easy food source for snakes.
So, you need to keep the grass low and mow the lawn in your garden weekly.
Snakes are always on the lookout for places with a cool temperature to hide. A heap of compost or wood in your garden is likely to attract snakes to your property.
Gaps in the heap are perfect places for snakes to hide. So, you need to eliminate these safe spots from your property.
Another way to prevent snakes from entering your property, is to first get rid of small rodents and insects from your home and garden area and ensure that your surroundings are also free of these.
Check for holes, gaps, or cracks and seal all the openings in your home around the windows, doors, pipes and electrical outlets to prevent snakes from sliding in to your house.
The use of a snake repellent is another effective method of keeping snakes away. These repellents contain certain components such as sulfur, cedar oil or clove oil that emit a strong odor to repel snakes. The repellents may also have substances that can make snakes uncomfortable to crawl over.
Most snake repellents are available in a powdered form. Fortunately, these products are not harmful to your pets or kids, BUT always read the label or confirm with the seller before you buy the product.
Snakes are more active at night, so you can also use a snake trap which consists of a glue board. As soon as a snake enters this trap, it gets stuck to the glue and is unable to escape. The captured snake can be released safely far away from your home.
If you do notice the presence of a snake in the surroundings, do not attempt to kill it. Snakes help maintain the balance of the ecosystem by controlling infestation of harmful rodents and insects. So either try to capture a snake and release it in the wild, or inform the concerned authorities.
