How To Find Snakes In Your Backyard
As national wildlife federation naturalist i frequently get questions from folks about getting rid of wildlife in their yard especially snakes.
How to find snakes in your backyard. Your backyard basement and or porch may provide an area of shelter for snakes. They climb well and young ones are often found hiding under tree bark or climbing in brush. Snakes can be a huge fear for many people and seeing one in your yard is likely to give anyone a fright.
Try learning more about which snakes you might want to find to make your search a successful one. Snakes are known for regularly shedding their scaly skin and this can occur once per month in actively growing snakes. Before you go looking for snakes it s a good idea to learn more about the snakes that live in your area.
This information can help you make it easier to locate the snake and avoid any snakes that are dangerous. Unfortunately most of the advice you can find online on the subject is bad. Snakes will harbor in areas that serve their needs.
The number of snakes of course depends on where you live and the time of the year. It s fairly common to come across snakes in suburban backyards particularly those with lots of bush and shrubbery where they seek refuge. The following are useful measures on how to find snakes in your backyard.
The kind of snakes you ll find in your yard will either eat rodents or birds. If you see fur and feathers but no bones it may be snake poop. But if you live near water and have a shed on your property or thick shrubbery or various pieces of wood or metal on the ground then you likely have snakes.
You may notice fur or feathers in snake feces but you won t see any bones because snakes can digest them with strong stomach acids. Our snake inspection guide can help you find snakes in your yard. Research which snakes live near you.
Snakes can move indoors if these needs are met inside or near the structure. Look for shed snake skins. Though you may not be able to distinguish the snakes eggs from other oviparous animals if you don t know how they look.
This process allows snakes to repair damaged skin and get rid of parasites. Normally snakes will go about their business without harming you your pets or themselves but if you do feel they pose a risk keep a safe distance away and grab a picture of the snake if possible. Mothballs are often suggested but they are toxic commercial snake repellants are usually made of the same chemical.
Luckily snakes aren t common pests. Corn snakes spend most of their time underground or hidden under objects such as logs boards or pieces of roofing tin. They need a place to hide and keep warm moisture and a food source.
