This is not what you want to see in your yard. Read this page to learn how to keep snakes out of your yard.
Now that humans have successfully inhabited most of planet Earth, we now must learn to live with the other inhabitants that call earth home. One of the most feared creatures that we find living amongst us are snakes, and rightfully so as many can inflict a very painful, sometimes deadly, venomous bite. “How to keep snakes out of your yard?” is a question we at hear a lot around here. While snakes will hopefully never be totally eradicated (even venomous snakes have their place), there are several ways to successfully keep snakes out of your yard and here we will list the ones that work best.
Food and Safety
There are two things that snakes need more than anything: food and a safe place to hide from predators and unfavorable temperatures. By removing both of these items you will be able to keep most snakes out of your yard, or at least make their stay short.
Safety:
If this is your yard, then you can expect snakes. If you live in area like this, then you can expect snakes in your yard.
Vegetation:
One of the best ways of how to keep snakes out of your yard is to eliminate any unneeded vegetation. This not only reduces cover for snakes, but prey species such as insects and rodents like over grown vegetation as well. So, vegetation should be removed or cut back as much as possible. Even tall grass will offer snakes a safe path into you yard.
Rubbish:
Snakes like to hide under things such as boards, tires, firewood, cars and parts, and whatever else that can provide shelter from predators and unfavorable temperatures. If you want to keep snakes out of your yard, you must remove any debris or rubbish that might provide a home for snakes.
Snakes follow prey, so if you have an abundance of prey, snakes will follow.
Food:
Snakes eat many different types of creatures, so it can be hard to eradicate all food sources. As with most predators, snakes are opportunistic feeders (they eat when they have the chance) and will eat just about anything it can catch that will fit inside their mouth. Therefor the bigger the prey, the bigger the snake, so you must keep the prey away and most snakes will remove themselves or never come in the first place.
Pest Control:
Once you have the vegetation and rubbish removed from your yard, then it is usually beneficial to have your yard sprayed for insects. This will help keep smaller snakes away. To keep the bigger snakes away from your yard, rodent control may be needed. This is usually done with traps and poisons, so you must take extreme caution as to not injure yourself or put bait where it is accessible to pets and children. You may want to hire a pest control technician for the best results.
Still Have Sakes in Your Yard?
By just following the steps above will keep many snakes out of your yard and searching for food where they belong (anywhere but your yard). Even still though, some yards are prone to more snake encounters than others. For these yards, other tactics can be employed. Luckily there are several products on the market that can successfully deter snakes from your yard.
Only use snake repellents with all natural, non-toxic ingredients. Most do not work as advertised so be aware when buying.
Snake Repellents:
After many years as a pest control technician, I have seen many repellants not work as advertised. Many sources will suggest moth balls, castor oil, and other ingredients, but they do not work very well and are not worth the risk to the environment or to your family. There is one snake repellent that has been proven to be effective in how to keep snakes out of your yard and is made out of all natural ingredients non-harmful to people or pets. Liquid Fence Snake Repellent is the only snake repellent that we will recommend as it has been proven to be effective. Further more, they offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee, so you can try it risk free.
Liquid Fence is availiable in several fomulas: ready to use, concentrate, granular. Though the ready to use is convenient, it last the least amount of time. The concentrate is nice as you can apply at the strength that you want, and I suggest making it strong to deter more snakes and for a longer time. The granular contains a time-release formula so that it also lasts a long time. You can learn more about Liquid Fence Snake Repellent here: Snake Repellent
Snakes can be effectively caught in traps.
Snake Traps
If you have snakes in your yard, a good method of removal is to use a snake trap. Snake traps are usually a box with a glue board inside that the snake will crawl on and get stuck. Snakes are always looking for an area to hide from predators or a place to ambush prey, and snake traps provide a good place for all of that. Some snake traps even have snake attractants, but they are not needed and mostly just a sales gimmick. The traps themselves however do work, and in some places, very well. Snake traps are easy to use and are not harmful to the snake. If you choose to, the snake may be easily removed from the glue board by spraying it with cooking spray or other oil.
Snake traps can be made out of a card board box and a glue board. Or you can buy a snake trap that can be used for multiple snakes. There are several snake traps to choose from. Here is a good source for finding the best snake trap for you and your yard: Snake Traps
Snake Fence
Possibly the best way how to keep snakes out of your yard is to instal a snake fence. Unlike your typical fence, a snake fence is only 12 inches high and barely noticeable as it blends into the surroundings. Of course, most snakes can crawl over objects that are 12 inches tall, but for some reason, with the snake fence they don’t. They will typically slither along it, deterring the snake from your yard.
The best things about the snake fence other than the fact that it keeps snakes out of your yard is that it is well built, easy to install, and lasts several years assuming nobody trips over it; it really does blend into the natural landscape. For more information and videos on the best snake fence for how to keep snakes out of your yard see below,
Snake Protective Clothing:
Snake gaiters can prevent a lot of pain. It hurts worse than it looks!
If you have a chance of encountering a venomous snake in or around your yard, then you might want to think about investing in some snake protective clothing. There are several forms of snake protective clothing and most are very effective, with the most common two being snake gaiters and snake boots.
The piece of mind that snake protective clothing is worth the cost alone. Once you add up all the medical bills and time spent in the hospital, your money would be much better spent on snake protective clothing as it can be purchased for under $50.
Protect your hands: Though legs are the most common part of the body to get bit by a snake, if you are asking “how to keep snakes out of your yard?” then you probably do a fair amount of yard work. That means putting your hands in area where a snake may be hiding. That is one of the reasons why bites to the hands are not far behind bites to the legs. For working outside with your hands in snake territory, it is best that you wear snake gloves. You can see the best snake gloves here: Snake Glove
The Benefits of Snakes:
Most people realize that snakes do in fact serve a purpose. Snakes prey on several other organisms that people fear as well, such as insects, rodents, and other snakes. Of course you would rather not have any of these pest in your yard, and the more snakes there are in the area, the less of the other pests there will be. That is why it is important to let snakes be if they are not in your yard. Those that you catch, at least the nonvenomous species, should be released back into the wilderness away from any human inhabitants. If there we no snakes, then either we would have to deal with a lot more pests, or we would have a different type of animal feeding on what snakes eat that could be worse.
Hopefully you can use some of the information in this article on how to keep snakes out of your yard so you can enjoy the benefits of living in such a beautiful area, and not fear when your kids or pets are playing outside. While there are no methods that are 100% effective to keep snakes out of your yard, by following these tips, you will be sure to see less snakes.
