How to Keep Snakes Out of My Garage

I think I've heard that moth balls repel snakes. A pest control company may be able to help you. I would just google the net under "snake control". Make enquiries at farm supply stores. Those people are pretty informed about such matters.

We have a contract with a pest control company, but when I contacted them I found out that they do not deal with snakes. They recommended trying snake-away, which is the same ingredients as moth balls. The reviews I have found have not been overwhelmingly successful. The same goes for using just mothballs, they just slither around the area that has a mothball. I suppose it is worth a cheap stinky investment though. Any other ideas?

Mothballs for repelling snakes

Possibly you could rig up a trap.

Trapping is another option I have considered, but trapping normally involves some sort of bait, and I would rather avoid inviting them in, even if it is just to capture them.

get a dog my uncle's dog just rips them apart (playing with them).

I have dogs, but I would like to keep them alive and healthy. They have brought snakes in the house through the dog door before that they found and chewed up in the yard, but those were non-venomous. Since I found the copperhead it bothers me. I know that there are absolutely cottonmouths and copperheads in our area and my dogs are small (dauchsunds) and I'm not sure how well they would survive a bite.

Copperheads and cottonmouths are belonging to the pit viper family. Although the cottonmouth has a slightly more potent venom the copperhead in my opinion would have to be considered dangerous to any life form.A dachshund weighing a few pounds would be in great danger. Human contact would be serious as the cytotoxic venom has the potential to destroy tissue, and of course allergic reaction could be a secondary danger.

Cannot give an accurate way of removing them other than burning the localised grass around your property (if allowed) or introducing a natural enemy of the snake.

I grew up in the woods of central Arkansas, and I can tell you from personal experience that Copperheads are FAR LESS likely to bite than Cottonmouths.

Cottonmouths will advance toward you, land or water. I've killed a lot of Cottonmouths, but, I don't recall killing any Copperheads.

Cottonmouths have a distinctive V-shaped head, and a stubby tail, marked like a Rattlesnakes rattler.

I don't think your snake is venomous.

What about a mongoose?

I can't burn or introduce wildlife that is not native to the area, such as a mongoose. Cats have been suggested quite a bit, but the dogs would not be the least bit happy about that one. My little wiener dogs hate cats and cattle (no clue why on cows) with a passion.

Weren't daschunds originally cattle dogs - just as corgis were?

German hunting dogs, especially things down holes like badgers. I'm a weiner owner too. CJM

Mongoose goes with Cobra. The former is unlawful to bring into (and sell or possess) in the US.

you could try those noise devices that keep mice's away those might work?

Those don't even work well on mice.

"The most common snakes eat
small rodents such as rats, mice or frogs. Look
for snakes to nest where there is such food. This
may be in a crawl space, an attic or around water." (or in your case the garage).

From a bit of research (not much mind you) It sounds like your best option (other than removing the frogs habitat, which might not be the most environmentally friendly option) is the "snake repellent" stuff. from what I have seen, its in granules, which are supposed to work for a couple of months. Apparently they are not poisonous products, and are supposed to be safe around kids and pets. As to how well they actually work, I could not say.

Could you install some type of flexible seal on the door itself on each panel to seal the gap from door panel to wall? I have in mind something like a rubber strip, similar to the door gap sealer strips which you screw into the bottom of your door to seal out air.

Maybe you could water-board/torture the intruders, and release them back into the wild to tell the others to not cross your borders?

I may have to be crafty and design something...

A brush type seal - with good stiff bristles - may work (???).

Perhaps so. That's a really good iea.

Garage door side / top seals are sold at most home DIY centers. Just wide rubber strips that tack on to the frame.

We live surrounded by woods and high grass. Had a devil of a time keeping mice out of our garage and house - presumably mostly due to them getting in through the gaps between garage door and frame. When we replaced our doors due to age (the doors, not us) the installers happened to put up those seals because we'd complained of the drafts.

Not only were drafts cut down, but we immedately noticed the mice visitation rate dropped dramatically. In the 5 years or so since the doors were installed, I think we've only had one or perhaps two.

They're obviously not "varmint-proof", but they do serve as a good deterrent. A snake / mouse / kangraoo would have to work to push the rubber aside. Much easier for them to just mosey on.

Below is an example of what I mean. No endorsement of this particular product or retailer written or implied.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=96343-1410-SG30WH&lpage=none

Perfect! This looks like a good solution to try. I don't know who you are guest, but you are getting a GA.

If this doesn't work, I will have to bring forth the Holy Handgrenade of Antiok.

You're welcome.

As for me, my identity must forever remain secret. The mice, you see. They don't like it when I discuss thwarting them. They can hold a grudge for generations...and sooner or later I must leave the house, where I'll be at their mercy.

Good luck.

Mongooses.

I wish I could get a barn owl to live in my garage, but that would mean leaving the doors open all the time and my mowers would likely end up borrowed...

Nest box. Owl "door" at the apex - no other pesky varmit's going to get in there (except ones with the power of flight...).

Check with local owl sanctuary/Bird Protection society and see about rehoming one...as part of a release into the wild.

Absolute best answer!! Had one in a hooch in SE Asia that did an incredible job on Cobras!

Yeah but they don't perform well without a mate and then you have more problems, lots of them

A little mongoose stew never hurt anyone.

Ahem - mongeese

Nope. Mongooses. It's not an English word, it's from Marathi. They're a member of the civet family.

The story in the Boy Scouts was that in snake country you were advised to encircle your tent with a rope on the ground, for snakes regarded the rope as if it was another snake, and hesitated to slither over it.

You are correct to have some worry, for I do know of cases where a young child even in the Urbanized town of Carrboro, NC, where I live, have been bitten by a poisonous snake. (it was either a Cottonmouth, or a Copperhead.)

Apparently the toxin threatened to paralyzed the 4 year olds leg.

Apparently there was also the likelihood of some permanent nerve damage, even though the leg was saved.

Another factor to know of is that the younger poisonous snakes inject all of their poison, whereas a mature snake withholds some, making a bite from a younger snake more dangerous.

(I'm reporting here what the mother of the child who was bitten told me.)

Of Domestic Pets I would expect that a Cat would be more of a snake deterrent than a dog.

Snakes do like to sun themselves on slabs of concrete where I have seen hordes of women smash them flat as paper with shovels, in my youth in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

It was one of the most interesting events I have ever witnessed.

Usually whenever I feel it is appropriate to kill a snake, I cut their head off with a shovel, though a shotgun works pretty well.

Cowboy boots, or Wellingtons do afford some protection against snakebites, though these creatures do seem capable of getting at the back of your leg right high.

Of snakebite deaths that I know of, the person who died was bitten in the hand.

Oilmen have been known to pour a kerosene "DMZ" around their rigs when drilling in snake country. Snakes hate kerosene.

-e

Hello Vandarye,

We live on a ranch some distance north of Austin. Like Houston, Central Texas has its share of venomous snakes (Western Diamondback, Texas Coral, Massasauga and so forth) and we've found that by keeping a few cats around the place we can pretty much keep the snake problem in check.

Last year we saw only two snakes on the entire property. One was a small snake I couldn't recognize because the cats had mangled it beyond recognition. The other was a mature Texas Coral which our eldest cat fought for about two hours straight. She was getting tired and so I toasted it with a weed burner and left it for the coyotes to snack on.

Now to solve the scorpion problem. We've killed probably 400 of 'em in the last two months.

-e

So then, do we have a consensus? A few cats around will help mitigate the threat.

According to a friend of mine he saw on youtube a video of a regular old housecat type kill a Cobra.

Hello europium,

Scorpion info that might be helpful

http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/insects/az1223.pdf

Scorpians are attracted to the blue bug lites. You just need to have it at ground level. A trick I learned living in New Mexico. First few nights you will be able to smash a lot of them.

It tapers off after that. Anytime the ground is disturbed in the area they will be back.

Mothballs.... My wife made me buy some sort of "Grampa's Guaranteed Squirrel Repellent" (I don't recall what the exact name was). It was guaranteed to get rid of squirrels for months. When I read the fine print (after we received it) it contained mothballs and cat dandruff. How well did it keep the squirrels out of the mango trees? Well, let's say I can rate it 0% effective without having to round down to the nearest integer. I don't know if mothballs work for moths, but I'm pretty sure that they don't work for anything else. They also have a bad habit of staining the clothes that they are suppose to protect.

Some of the spray's MIGHT help. They seem like snake oil to me, but my parents have very good luck protecting their flower garden from rabbits with the coyote urine stuff. Stinks for the first half hour, works well and does not stink after dry. Somehow I doubt that anything similar would work on a snake.

Possibly consider an electric fence unit with pairs of opposite polarity wires separated by a short distance and attached to a plastic sheet (1/16" to 1/8" thick) that is either attached to the floor or attached where the snake will have to touch it. A few KV across the old scales might make the critter feel downright unwelcome. Approved electric fence power sources should be safe, especially if you slip a power resistor in series to make them even more "baby friendly". Remember, if the baby finds a way to get near the wires that are "damage safe" but hurt, then the baby has also found a way to get near the snake that could kill him/her.

Some people in Florida (somehow, I don't know how) keep black snakes in their yard. The black snakes are not a threat to people but they love to eat pigmy rattlers.

Cats sound like a pretty good idea. Consult the experts. The Discovery Channel opened my eyes a little about a year ago. I always thought that there were two or three pure breeds and a bunch of stuck up products of back alley romance. Actually there are many pure breeds and their personality traits are somewhat predictable. There probably is one (or two) that stand out as having a good chance of being family friendly but intruder deadly.

I have found a 1X2 spruce furring strip to be particularly effective and gratifying. Set one end on the ground with the other end up high. You are far enough away from the snake for both of you to feel safe. Rotate the 1x2 down rapidly with the 1" (actually 3/4") surface horizontal. Huge bang. Snake receives one @#$% of a blow but you don't risk the driveway damage from a shovel hit. Also, this gets past the problem of the shovel handle being about the same length as the snake's strike distance. I have had several snakes strike at and hit the shovel, so I disrespect them with great respect.

No animals were harmed as I wrote this posting. So far no humans have been hurt by snakes in my yard. I rattler almost got me on my hand once. I think that "almost once" is enough. Also the baby black indigo's are so mean that they will come at you even when they could easily get away. They didn't have any of this in the "Visit Florida" brochure.

Put a pig in the grassy lot, pigs kill snakes period. Maybe just borrow a pig it'd be a sustainable method

Funny how a post like this one will bring back memories from youth.

I remember seeing this as a tad on the farm of my grandparents.

Pigs are notorious for eating them, true.

Well I came home from work today and found that snake in my garage again. To my surprise he had caught himself in a rodent glue trap I had put out to deal with a similar problem we had several months ago when a couple of field mice moved into the garage. Now those traps normally just catch spiders. Below is a picture of the catch of the day.

I found the picture below on wiki of a western cottonmouth, looks like that may be what this guy is. Yes, they are venomous.

Hard to see from the pic, but is that a small cottonmouth?

That is what I am thinking now that I could get close enough safely to take a good look at him. Attached is a close up of his head. You can see the yellow markings under its jaw, looks like the pic I found on wiki.

Below is a picture of a western cottonmount I found on another website.

After more research, I found a picture of a yellow bellied water snake. Based on the banding, it looks like perhaps that what the snake is after all, hard to say. Those are non-venomous. There is a lake perhaps 200 yards from the house, so maybe that is where he came from. I am aslo thinking that is where mr. turtle came from who showed up at my house a few weeks ago.

Yellow bellied water snake

My garage snake

Mr. Turtle showed up next to my gas meter one day. I walked him down to the lake and released him.

The markings are similar, but the shape of the head is a dead giveaway. A cottonmouth sports a largish "lobe" behind each eye. Don't know if that's where they store their venom, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised. Yellow Bellys don't have those lobes, but they otherwise look enough like a cottonmouth to pass for one.

-e

That's my fear. The snake in my garage has the tell tale arrow shaped head, which usually indicates a viper.

If that snake is still in the trap, can you snap a clear shot of the head and post it here?

Here you go. With a better camera.

Top view

Side view

Note that the pupils are round, versus a slit like vipers typically have. Now I am pretty sure that this is a water snake and not a mocassin, being that mocassins have slit pupils.

Upon closer inspection with a better camera zoom, the head is not as arrow shaped as it appeared from a distance. The eyes are also round versus slit, so I'm prety sure it is a water snake.

Firstly congratulations for not thinking of killing them.

You have constructed your home in the home land of the snakes. Thus obviously they will be around you. But, surely they are not coming in garage to stay there. they must be coming for the rodents in the garage. If you control the rodents, rats in the garage, they will not be attracted in and will remain away from the garage. Just keep some open clean space all around the garage and keep garage free from rats, snakes will not come, and will be happy with the frogs beyond the clean area around the garage.

I try not to interfere with nature too much, and certainly would like to avoid killing the local wildlife when able, which is why I am looking into repellents. We are surrounded by wildlife here, which I rather like. Now if I could just get those coyotes to turn the volume down a notch at night, sometimes they get out right obnoxious lol. There is a very large cow pasture perhaps 50 yards from my home where they hunt.

I'd have a pig, snakes don't like pigs they stay away, I think it's about the pointy feet. Pigs don't hunt snakes but if a snake hunts the pig it's in for a rough stretch of road.

A pig is a great animal when used for security purposes too, they're of greater intelligence than any dog and most thugs. And they don't bark at the grass growing or the moon

I was researching another kind of snake that I saw today and came across your board and found it very interesting. I live West of Fort Worth. The snake that you had found is called a "Texas Rat Snake." I have also saw these up close and personal. If you google them and look at a juvenile one, you will see they closely resemble a rattler or Copperhead. You will also find that they are more good than harm. Mostly they eat mice, rats and birds. The one that I had saw was over four and half feet long. It's the coloring that throws you. But the older they get, the more black they look although you can still see the coloring from being juvenile. They turn and slither to hide rather than fight unless cornered like perhaps by a dog. They do have two rows of teeth to grab and hold their prey. During the heat of the day, they find a cool place to lie, which is probably why it was in your garage, along with maybe hunting the mice that you saw.

Definitely a beneficial snake. I released it in a field near my home, and was alive and well last I saw of it. I haven't had any snakes in the garage since this thread started, but I did have to remove an angry young cotton mouth from my back yard one evening. I managed to scoop it up with a garden rake and keep it at a safe distance, the whole time it was showing me its open white mouth and striking at the rake. I deposited that snake safely on the outskirts of a drainage ditch near my home, probably where he came from in the first place.

You might try a tom cat. I do not have any scientific study to support this, but have noted a dearth of snakes in areas with cats, and I have come across others noting the same. It appears that cats and snakes enjoy the same foods, and snakes don't like sharing. Or, maybe a mongoose4 woould be more effective...

A sign 'Snakes Keep Out' ?
Or maybe some sort of stiff bristles around the door, which will flex to allow door opening and closing but will deform to fill the gap.
Del

(Damn I should have patententented that...no, no not the sign)

Wouldn't ya know a cat would suggest using a material rodents are attracted to chew on the bristles...

I can validate the effectiveness of a good cat. She killed 3 I know of before one got her. She was bit on the ear twice, but the cheek strike was her last.

I keep waiting for someone to suggest peel and stick aluminum tape in parallel rows, and a dog or horse fence electrifier, toned down some perhaps. Might be able to rig it to alarm just for the fun of it. CJM

A snake main means of travel is across the ground. Put up a fence as a barrier would greatly reduce the problem. Tight to the ground or even bury the edge with tight spacing. There are some repellents and home born idea like moth balls. All are questionable whether they work. All so cutting the grass on these lots. Even snakes are not inclined to expose themselves into the open where they can be preyed upon. The greater the distance they have to go in the open the less likely they are to cover it. Same with the small frogs the grass is cover. Removing it will go along way to reduce the problem. Cut it down.

Sister had a same problem with snakes around their home. Lot next to theirs was over grown. Brother-in-law cut it back 25 ft and kept it clear. Snake problem didn't completely go away. But now its a rarity instead of an every day occurrence.

I have more experience trying to keep snakes in my house than out...but it should work the other way around...right?

Anyways, if you have a fence around your property, maybe you could install a mesh screen around it. The screen should touch the ground and should be difficult to get your fingers underneath. It probably wouldn't have to be more than 1.5 or 2 feet tall. Unless the snake really wants to get at something, the mesh will discourage it and it'll probably try to find another way around, which means not in your yard.

Snakes love hiding places, so remove any large branches, piles of leaves or sticks, or groups of rocks. You can place those things in a pile elsewhere to draw the snakes away from hiding places in and around the house. Same goes for the bordering grassy lots. And if the grass is tall, it might be good to cut it shorter. Large flat rocks that could serve as basking places should also be removed.

If there are any shallow puddles or pools of water or anything low to the ground that's collecting water, you might want to remove that also. Both the frogs and the snakes might use it as a water source. In a place like Texas staying hydrated and cool is especially important for snakes, so somewhere with water and shade is prime real estate.

Strong smells, especially those that aren't natural, tend to repel snakes. I keep anyone wearing cologne or perfume from holding my snakes because it tends to make them sick. Though emptying bottles of cologne around your house doesn't seem like a great idea.

Most people go with mothballs because they're relatively cheap and you can crush them up and spread them. If you go with that choice, I suggest crushing up a lot and spreading it around the perimeter of your property, if you use the mesh screen, definitely rub it on that. Too small of a concentration of the smell might not be enough to deter the snakes, which is probably why mothballs don't work for most people. They might not be using enough.

Aromatic red cedar mulch might work. It's natural, it doesn't look bad and it smells nice to us. I don't use it in my cages because the smell is too strong and irritating, I don't know if it would still apply out in the open, but it's relatively cheap so you could get a lot of it. I would definitely recommend this if you have plants in your yard. It'll not only protect your plants, it'll probably keep the snakes away from the plants if they do get in your yard, and I hear they it also drives away most insects.

I hope that helps,
Good Luck!

It seems that maybe a rabbit is the best option. I think I will hire this guy.

They are also handy against human invaders. Run Away! Run Away!

I don't know much about repeling snakes but,

To keep mice out, Bounce fabric softener sheets work wonders!

And, the smell a WHOLE lot better than mothballs...

P.S.

I'm reminded of an old joke:

Q: How do you find mothballs?

A: Tweezers and and a magnifier!

Use a decorative yard style windmill. Seems this produces a frequency in the topsoil which deters ground critters especially gophers, moles, rabbits, mice, rats and snakes.

My brother lives in Las Vegas, folks there use cats to keep the sidewinders at bay. I'd go mit der kat.

I have watched bull snakes climb up ivy-covered walls, arbors, and wood patio furniture, in spite of the belief that they only crawl on the ground.

We have found that lightly spreading used cat litter (minus the bombs) around the yard is an effective deterent to snakes that live in the high desert climate of New Mexico.

Lots of suggestions about pigs 'n such. If you are rural enough to consider such a thing, here is another: Peacocks.

Several of the ranches and farms in Wyoming and Montana sport peacocks and peahens for the specific purpose of snake control. The birds hate snakes, and will NOT pass an opportunity to rid the earth of every one they discover. The fairly constant calling from the birds seems to scare many of the snakes, so very few (that I saw) actually met their end via the beak.

The beautiful and majestic males are a real crowd pleaser, especially amongst the women. And yes, they do taste just like chicken!

Now, the down point... the males (in particular) believe that the day begins at about 4:00 or 4:30 in the morning, and they further believe everyone should start their day with them. The constant calling mentioned before is more of a cacophony. This can have an undesireable effect on your demeanor... see previous comment about the flavor of the prepared birds!

Just a ramblin thought, memories of my childhood. Best of luck.

We're considering getting a few peacocks, but I'm concerned about the males fighting should we get more than one. What has been your experience?

We used to have a bunch of peacocks on campus. I don't recall males fighting being a problem. Well, to be specific I don't recall male peacocks fighting being a problem. We did have a few problems with males fighting, but that is "off topic".

Other than making some noise the birds were nice to have around. They are pretty. They have enough of an attitude that I don't think they would have any trouble expressing themselves to a snake. And the pointy end is very sharp. I was dumb one day and I still have the scar to remind me not to do it again.

Please excuse the delay... been distracted for awhile.

I can recall only one or two peacocks (males) at any given place; places in Wyoming tend to have a 'yard' of about ten acres, with free access to the rest of the pastureland around. Teamed with these males were several peahens... the gender mix and acreage seemed to initiate few arguements between the males.

The males would roost at night (weather allowing) pretty much anywhere they felt like it; females seemed to like hanging around the peafowl house.

I'm too lazy to read this complete discussion so I don't know if someone already pointed out that the snakes are happy in their environment- not yours ....but something is attracting them.

Dealing with the bait or "root cause" will in turn deal with the snakes. In your photo I saw insects.

insect = frog = snake

~~~~ or ~~~~~~

insect = bird = snake

So get rid of all food sources and my accounting department and we'll both be happy.

Perfectly valid point. I spray around my home and so does my pest control company for insects. Mostly this helps control the spiders, centipedes, millipedes, chinch bugs, etc. The crickets however seem unphased and the frogs are in abundance. Speaking of birds, well we do have a mockingbird family living in the trees in our front yard. They had 3 chicks maybe a month and a half ago.

Mockingbrids attack cats.

...and dogs, and people, and anything else that moves. I find them entertaining.

Yeah, but it's not the attacking that gets us down..
It's that mocking
Cats have feelings too ya know.
Del

I bet one of these would work http://www.petco.com/product/105495/Havahart-Above-Ground-Electric-Fence-Kit.aspx?cm_mmc=CSEMGooglebase-_-Dog-_-Havahart-_-1090836&mr:trackingCode=29EAEB15-8381-DE11-B7F3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA

I have this fence installed with the bottom wire just 1/2" above the ground and have a copper grounding rod attached to the grounding wire. It won't kill the snake, but it will give it a good shock and drive it off. My fence is set up for dogs, cats and rabbits. The batteries have to be replaced every two months and I am about to get rechargeable batteries for it. It is not a perfect solution, but it might help.

Couple of ideas... is there frequently a light on in the garage or a nearby streelight that shines into the garage? You might be attracting the insects, then frogs, then snakes (although you're probably onto that one already).

The other thing to try (and its a long shot) is an eagle on a string. I don't know if you can get them there, but you can get them here (in Oz) to scare birds away from fruit trees. It's a big kite thing shaped and painted to look exactly like an eagle. It either swings about on a bendy pole about 10f off the ground or hangs from a string if you have an anchor point.

I'd be willing to bet snakes know exactly what birds of prey look like and do their best to avoid them. Maybe one outside your garage door and a few between your place and the grassy lots would do the trick?

Good luck... by the way, we came home from holidays last year to a tiger snake in our kitchen... not a good snake to mess with. (And like many posts above have said, it was only there because we weren't strict enough with the mice.)

Well, I managed to free the snake from the glue trap and set it free some distance from our home. Unfortunately, the only thing I could get to loosen the adhesive was acetone based nail-polish remover, which naturally aggitated the snake. All that wriggling helped the snake loosen up from the adhesive, so all ended well.

Next time simply warm the 'glue' gently and it will liquefy. These things are not too effective in cold or hot areas, but ideal in moderate temperature zones since the tacky stuff is temperature affected.

Can't off-hand think of a way to warm the goo without disturbing the critter, but it would beat nail polish remover. I wonder if it was female? So much room here for humor but I digress. CJM