What Do You Use to Keep Snakes Away

Updated on June 16, 2010
E.H. asks from Harker Heights, TX
20 answers

Hi,
I will be moving into a home with a beautiful deck but the backyard is facing a field. I do not care to walk and sit out back and be visited by a snake. What do you use?
Thanks

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So What Happened?

Thank you everyone, there were some really great ideas. I will let you know what happens and how some of your ideas work after we move.
Thanks

Featured Answers

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S.R.

answers from Austin on

I've heard about the mothball trick also. An exterminator had told my parents to do that. Just spread them around the house as a barrier. I wouldn't want my cat or dog to accidently get bit by a snake.

2 moms found this helpful
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S.M.

answers from Houston on

i saw on a show on A&E (BILLY THE EXTERMINATOR)a well known pest control company in Louisiana that GARLIC is what keeps snakes away.

2 moms found this helpful

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J.T.

answers from Victoria on

if you can make sure the grass is short. taller grass attracts mice which attracts snakes. moth balls also help rid your yard of snakes.

2 moms found this helpful

R.W.

answers from San Antonio on

We use moth balls all the time for snakes. This will keep them away. There's also Snake Away.

2 moms found this helpful
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K.D.

answers from Houston on

I was told to get the moth balls, in the granular form, and put it around the perimeter of the fence, once you know that there are no snakes in the interior of that perimeter. I never tried it, as we had a dog who ate everything and I didn't want her to eat that....but I was assured that the snakes would not cross that barrier. Hope this helps!
K.

2 moms found this helpful
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N.H.

answers from Austin on

Moth balls works really well. Perhaps it'll wk for you?? Good luck!!

2 moms found this helpful
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D.W.

answers from Longview on

Get some moth balls. That will help.

2 moms found this helpful

D.K.

answers from Houston on

Moth Balls. My parents use them on there Farm. Really does work. Good luck.

2 moms found this helpful
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C.B.

answers from Austin on

Dogs and cats keep the yard free of unwanted wildlife.

1 mom found this helpful
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F.C.

answers from Tampa on

product called "Snake Away" it works wonders - developed at UF

1 mom found this helpful
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S.T.

answers from Houston on

We have a cat that spends a lot of time outside and that's cut down the snakes. We have 3 1/2 acres and also back up to a field. We rarely see them. I have a friend with a huge ranch and her rat terrier kills snakes in a second. He was bit only once and it's because the snake was next to something and when it saw the dog it crawled under whatever it was and the dog grabbed the tail and it bit him. He was fine, though.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.H.

answers from Houston on

Hello there. My husband and I have a reptile rescue business are snake breeders as well. Our advice to folks who want to make their yards "less snaky" is to keep brush piles and bushy areas away from your house, etc. Rats, mice, amphibians, etc that are all snake prey food sources live in these places. The snakes many times will come for their food. Also, if you back up to a wild area, such as a field in your case, then that is the snake's home and you are living with them. Many cases of snakes found in people's yards are just passing through. Maybe they are looking for water in the summer. Maybe they are looking for mates in the spring seasons. Snakes are not territorial and will move from place to place. I recommend a good field guide to help identify snakes in your area. If you live in Texas, I recommend A Field Guide to Texas Snakes by Alan Tennant. The majority of snake species in the US are NOT venomous. Of course, we have a few that are, and you should treat all snakes with care if you are not well versed in identifying them.

Our website has links to various snake ID sites. www.snakeworld.com
See links at bottom on The About Us page.

We do not recommend Snake Away products. I don't really see how they would really be effective based on what are personal experience is with snakes. (And we have lots of it! We have been doing Reptile Rescue for 16 years and my husband has been into snakes for 40 years.)

Snakes play a vital role keeping rodents in check and have a place in our natural world. Unfortunately they are very misunderstood. Good luck and I hope you can find a way to live with the occasional snake that passes through your new home.

K. Howell

1 mom found this helpful
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R.L.

answers from Houston on

You can get Snake Away and similar products at your local hardware store or Feed Store. I believe they are made from Fox Urine which is a natural deterrent since they are predators.

Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

C.B.

answers from Kansas City on

a couple of rowdy dogs always kept them out of our yard :)

1 mom found this helpful
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A.D.

answers from Houston on

Go to the hardware store and pick up snake away.

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S.O.

answers from San Antonio on

Snakes are wonderful!
We welcome them---they eat the baby rats that live under our neighbor's deck. And breed like crazy when the snakes don't control the population.

We did not like the snake who curled up around my son's engine in a huge thunderstorm last month and made it impossible for him to drive the car.
We got him to move on by playing rock and roll music. Their nervous systems do not like the bass (low vibrations.)

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M.M.

answers from Washington DC on

My Beagle kills most of our snakes. I really don't worry about them, the Copperheads stay out of the yard with Becky the Beagle in it and the racers eat the baby copperheads.

K.B.

answers from Savannah on

two words: Jack Russells.

and a small, separate bit of money set aside for vet visits... you may need to make an emergency trip - but they'll be fine... durable breed bred for this type of thing.

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C.W.

answers from Shreveport on

Dogs are going to be your best bet especailly their poop. The snake away stuff I laugh about because I have several friends who have wasted a lot of money on that stuff and they still have snakes are regular visitors to their yards.
I have three dogs and have lived at our current house over 5 yrs now. In that time two snakes have made it to our yard. One our basset dug up from his winter sleep and brought it to me. The second one she found under one of our sheds. We actually rescued the snake from her because it was a king snake. The reason we rescued it is those things eat other snakes so I would much rather have it alive. We have found its skin a few times but so far no actual snakes since those two.
If you don't want to get a dog but have friends who have them see if they will collect the poop for you and you can spread it out the perimeter of your property. I know gross but gross verses snakes I think to me gross would win out.

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D.S.

answers from Tulsa on

get cats and get rid of the mice. the snakes are there to eat the mice. when the cats eat the mice the snakes have to go elsewhere. this is a trick used by farmers the mice go into the feed and the snakes follow. only feed the cats once a week yes this sounds cruel but they will find thier own food which is mice if the mice are away feed 2x a week. you will need at least 2 cats to keep up with the mice probably 3. I would highly suggest adopting at a rescue so they will already be fixed or you will have an over population of cats if you don't spay and nueter.

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