Snakes Are Coming Back—Here's How to Keep Them Out

The arrival of warmer weather means more critters will be out and about. While we may welcome the sight of more songbirds and butterflies, most of us shudder at the thought of snakes slithering their way into our yards. While most snakes are harmless and actually beneficial for pest control, we still don’t want them in our outdoor living spaces. Luckily, there are easy ways to deter snakes from getting too close to your home. 

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Why Snakes Appear When The Weather Warms

Snakes often emerge when the weather warms in search of food and shelter, two necessities that most residential properties often offer in abundance. 

“Snakes especially love yards with rock piles, stacked stone borders, decorative boulder clusters, wood piles, and dense ground-cover plants, and if rodents or frogs present, they are more likely to stay because this is how they can find both shelter and food in the same place,” says Nicole Carpenter, president of Charlotte-based Black Pest Prevention. 

Make You Home Less Hospitable

Generally speaking, snakes do not like being caught out in the open. Eliminating the places where snakes like to hide can discourage them from making a home in your yard. “Sometimes just removing hiding spots, keeping grass trimmed, and eliminating their prey is already enough to make them want to leave,” Carpenter says. Here are some simple steps you can take to deter snakes:

• Trim your grass: Snakes love the cover offered by tall grass. Think of your lawn as a buffer zone between wooded areas where snakes live and your home. Stick to a mowing schedule that doesn’t allow your grass to grow beyond 3 to 4 inches tall to discourage snakes from making the journey across your lawn and to your home.
  
• Clear Brush piles: Piles of dead lives and sticks and stacks of wood are favorite spots for snakes to hide out. Clear away these areas to make your property less attractive to snakes.
  
• Trim back shrubs: Dense shrubs and overgrown landscaping are another popular spot for snakes to hang out. Trim back overgrown shrubs. Focus particularly on the bottom part of shrubs and trim them back to the trunk if possible, so there’s less cover on the ground for snakes to hide under. 

Cut off their food supply

Snakes are attracted to places where food is in abundance. They like to feed on rodents, toads, frogs, and insects. "Snakes are attracted to the same things that attract other animals: food, water, and shelter," says Melissa Amarello, executive director at Advocates for Snake Preservation. "So making your backyard attractive for birds and squirrels may attract snakes too." If you can make your home less hospital to these populations, you force the snakes to look elsewhere for food.

Use Snake Repellents

Create a perimeter around your home that repels snakes by using natural repellents. Snakes don’t like strong scents created by sulfur, cayenne pepper and such essential oils as cinnamon and clove:

• Mix equal parts of sulfur, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder to create a powder scent barrier.
• Create spray that consists of 1 tablespoon of an essential oil like cinnamon , clove, or eugenol and four cups of water. Spray the essential oil around your home to serve as a snake deterrent. Like powders, sprays are effective but must be reapplied after it rains. 
• For longer lasting scent based repellents that you don’ t need to reapply constantly, try planting marigolds, garlic, onions, or lemongrass, all of which have strong scents that snakes don’t like. 
• Moth balls (naphthalene), which have a strong odor that drives away snakes, are a common option for deterring snakes and can be applied around the perimeter of your home to discourage snakes.
• You can also purchase commercial granules and sprays such as Victor Snake-A-Way, Nature’s Mace, and Snake Out, to repel snakes. 

Install Physical Barriers

Depending on how large an area you’re trying to protect from snakes, installing a physical barrier might make sense, which Amarello says is the most effective way to prevent snakes from entering your yard. “An effective snake fence should be at least 4 feet high with solid, buried footing and constructed of a smooth, solid material or ¼ inch or finer hardware cloth or wire mesh," she says. Amarello also recommends trimming trees and shrubs that gives snakes a way to climb in. 

Physically Removing a Snake

When you find a snake on your property, you may be tempted to remove it yourself. Amarello doesn’t recommend doing so unless you’re 100% sure it’s harmless. “Most bites happen to people who try to handle or kill snakes," she says. If you are sure the snake is harmless, gently pick him up and carry him outside or off your property. “A scared snake is more likely to bite, so it really is important to handle them gently and support their body — do not pick them up by their head or tail as this is likely to cause injury,” she says. 

Conclusion

Preventing snakes from taking up residence in your outdoor living areas or finding their way into your home, typically comes down to making your property less inviting. Removing food sources, keeping landscaping tidy, and applying snake repellents are all effective means of deterring snakes. 

While snakes are generally harmless, if you start to see multiple snakes around your property, if they're finding their way into your home, or if you suspect you might be dealing with a venomous snake, it’s best to call in a professional for help.