What will keep snakes away

[deere755]

We have been finding snakes up near our foundation all summer in our land scape. This morning was the final straw for me when I found one coming up the front porch steps as I was going down. They all have been garter snakes so far. I don't want to kill them as much as I hate them I know they are good for mice and other pests. I am afraid that the next one I find will be in the house. I also saw a big black snake going in the pole barn the other day and would like to find away to keep him out of there. I know some of you will say that having him in there is a good thing, but I would have to disagree.
Is there anything I can put out that will keep them away from the house and barn? I have heard that mouth flakes will work.

 

[krue]

My mom detests snakes and used to see more around the house than any 8 people I know, until she got a herd of cats. Now the rodents are kept down and the cats kill the smaller snakes. She hasn't seen a snake in months. Personally I'd rather have the snakes around than the cats, but that's just me.

 

[LMTC]

Moth balls/flakes will have some deterrent effect so long as they remain potent, but only over a very limited area. It is the direct impact of the naptha in them on the snake's sense of smell that supposedly repels them....apparently it confuses their sense of smell which leaves them frightened.

 

[deere755]

My wife has hinted that if we had some cats that they would keep the snakes away. I am not sure that is what I am looking for. Cats are ok until I find them on my car or pickup. I think part of the problem is we put a small goldfish pond with a fountain in our landscape. It seems since we added this to our landscape the snakes have appeared. I think I will try the moth flakes and see what happens.

 

[Thomas]

Morning deere755.
I had little problem w/snakes last year until friend said...mix dishing washing soap w/little bleach and spray under the steps w/pressure washer..yet to see a snake this year.

 

[Redneck_Randy]

There's a product called Snake Away that works pretty good. There are several online dealers that sells it. You might be able to find it local. Link below.

Snake-Away, Snake Control, Snake-A-Way Snake Repellent

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm of the opinion that there are no such thing as good snakes. I don't like to see them, or even know they are around. Even finding a shed skin freaks me out!!!!

I saw on the Animal Channel one time an episode of the Crocidile Hunter where he went under a house to catch a snake. He said the snake was there because food was there. Snakes need to eat, so they are where the food is. He looked around the house and found a bird feeder with seed all over the ground. That was it. The bird seed was bringing in mice. Mice are food for snakes.

I know this is common sense, but intil I saw that show, it wasn't something I'd really thought about. No mice, means no snakes!!!!

I put lots and lots of mice poison out around my home. I had allot of mice a year ago, now I don't have any. I keep putting it out and ocasionally it's eaten, but I don't see any dropings anymore, and best of all, I haven't seen a mouse this year!!!!

I also haven't seen a snake around my place and that alone is worth the price of mouse poison.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[midlf]

Yep - no mice is a good thing. Nice thing about my area, relatively few snakes and NO poisonous snakes. We do have to work to keep mice out of the house however. Having the bird precludes having house cats. Therefore I am building mouse "feeders" so the mice only can eat the delcious food blocks I make available for them.

 

[Tom_H]

A mongoose.

 

[deere755]

Well I haven't noticed any mice but like I said earlier we added a gold fish pond to our land scape and with that came an over abundance of toads around the foundation. Could this be the food source that is attracting them. We started seeing the snakes after the the pond was installed. If this is the cause of them I may get rid of the pond.

 

[MF1455v]

I put granular sulfer out around our house. It smells a little for the a day or so after applying it. But no snakes. I just put it in my walk behind spreader like fertilize and make sure to rinse out the spreader well afterwords. I have a burmuda grass lawn and the sulfer works well as a fertilize for it. A duel purpose product. The powered sulfer works better but its to diffacult to work with. It's also cheep, last I bought was $17 for 50lb.

James

 

[MossRoad]

A mongoose.

That's what I was thinking.

 

[AMP762]

The only snakes I see are the dead one the cats bring to show me they are doing there job.

 

[higgy]

There is one way that is even nice to look at if you can stand the screaming. Peacocks will kill every snake they see. They are amazing at this.

I could not live with the ruckus that the peacock makes. I will take the snakes.

Dane

 

[3RRL]

My wife has hinted that if we had some cats that they would keep the snakes away. I am not sure that is what I am looking for. Cats are ok until I find them on my car or pickup. I think part of the problem is we put a small goldfish pond with a fountain in our landscape. It seems since we added this to our landscape the snakes have appeared. I think I will try the moth flakes and see what happens.

Your goldfish pond is a natural water source for many animals that you do not see (including snakes). The snakes know this and will hunt around it. some snakes around are not too bad to balance things out. But it looks like you're over the limit? The cats work well out here even for smaller rattlesnakes. Just make sure they are not "pets". My neighbor keeps a bunch of them around a detached building providing shelter from the coyotes and he leaves food for them there. Every once in a while he has to replenish the cat herd.

 

[buckshotsparrow]

i have expensive birds that free fly in my house........i recently came up missing a bird then another then another then another......i discovered a black snake in a guitar that i was using for a bird breeding box.......that snake devoured $400 worth of birds that were special to me.....i am not happy.....he is dead gone now but i am worried about another one moving in to replace him......apparantly they have a great sense of smell and thus were able to detect i have a smorgasboard here.....i had problems with mice two winters ago.....they come for the bird seed....i removed over loo mice.....i havent seen a mouse in two years now.....i keep d-con boxes out in various locations.....also spring loaded traps against the walls......i am not sure how to make sure no more snakes get in......ive read that moth balls are not that effective and most snake repellents are a scam as well......i will put out moth balls underneath the house. ive also closed up many possible acess holes though i am sure there are hundreds of other ways to get in.......

 

[adjusterr]

I sure am no fan of snakes however, I also see no reason to kill a snake just because it's a snake, especially non- poisoness types. I had a blacksnake in the ceiling of my garage for years, only saw him one time but would find discarded skins, best part, never had a mouse problem. The old snake finally died and the mice moved in. I sure wouldn't tolerate a poisoness snake around the house but would probably just bag him up and haul him farther up the mountain. Being a retired Insurance Claims Adjuster, I had a snakebite claim and was advised by a gentleman named Tom Glass, a snake bite expert from Texas, there is nothing that will positively keep snakes away, the closest item is mothballs as the seem to have an adverse effect on the snakes olefactory nerve.

 

[MossRoad]

i have expensive birds that free fly in my house........i recently came up missing a bird then another then another then another......i discovered a black snake in a guitar that i was using for a bird breeding box.......that snake devoured $400 worth of birds that were special to me.....i am not happy.....he is dead gone now but i am worried about another one moving in to replace him......apparantly they have a great sense of smell and thus were able to detect i have a smorgasboard here.....i had problems with mice two winters ago.....they come for the bird seed....i removed over loo mice.....i havent seen a mouse in two years now.....i keep d-con boxes out in various locations.....also spring loaded traps against the walls......i am not sure how to make sure no more snakes get in......ive read that moth balls are not that effective and most snake repellents are a scam as well......i will put out moth balls underneath the house. ive also closed up many possible acess holes though i am sure there are hundreds of other ways to get in.......

You had no mice because you had a snake.

 

[jinman]

Keep your birds safe! Move to Ireland or Hawaii.

 

[riptides]

I thought Hawaii had a pretty serious problem with snakes too? They were trying to eliminate some that had came from asian and were acting like it was a buffet.