Bizarrely aggressive garter snake

[DonyaQuick]

I have a large garter snake that has taken up residence under my house's front step. I have tried to deter it via cayenne pepper around gaps, which only works until it rains, then it's back. It's getting more and more aggressive and today darted out and started attacking my boot - wouldn't leave me alone. I had hold of a chicken at the time so my hands were occupied and I couldn't do anything except step on it and get a really good look to make sure it really was a garter snake (it is...no fangs, everything else looks right), and then kick it to the moon so I could put the chicken back without it harassing me. The ground was very soft so I doubt stepping on it did much and I'm sure it will be back. Soon I will have chicks needing to go out so this snake has to go one way or another but catching it has already proven tricky. I have never had one of these snakes act like this.

I have seen there are snake repellent balls and stuff; has anyone used those, and are they safe to use around chickens/dogs?

 

[Geena]

Garter snakes do sometimes try to strike at you, it's purely defensive, just bluff.
Why not just catch and relocate it?

 

[Rose_adamaj]

If I accidentally did it in with the kick it would honestly be for the best. There's just something really off about that snake for it to be acting like that. I didn't see where it landed unfortunately so hard to check on what happened to it. I'll just have to wait for the next time it rains and washes away my cayenne and then make sure I have my tall boots on again when I go out in case it's still around.


That's why I had a good inspection of it while stood on it; was finding it hard to believe it was actually a garter but I'm pretty good with snake IDs and it definitely is. I've had rat snakes get aggressive when cornered or surprised but even those didn't strike unless prodded. Never had a snake of any sort deliberately dart out at me - even venomous snakes I've run into in other regions have preferred to run away first.

I tried to grab it once in the pats with gloves but couldn't get a good hold on it. Part of the problem is I don't want to grab it bare handed if it's going to be a biter; even non-venomous snake bites can bleed a lot and/or get nasty later due to infection or allergic reactions and this one is big enough it would break the skin. I've had no trouble grabbing smaller garters around my coop before but did it bare handed for better dexterity because I wasn't worried about them biting or even breaking the skin if they did.



Ah yep I know that sort of trap design - used something similar with predatory marine worms in an aquarium once (with small bottle instead of the big ones). Not sure what I could bait a snake trap with though...will have to look that up since I thought they mostly go off of heat and movement rather than scent. I'm currently trying to trap a mouse that's being a pest in my house, so maybe I can just use that once I nab it if they go for scent too. With my luck though I might come down in the morning to find the resident skunk with half a pop bottle stuck on its head.

Skunk with half a bottle stuck on it head

 

[DonyaQuick]

Quick update on the hen that I'm pretty sure was bitten by the nasty garter snake: it took her nearly two weeks for her face to go back to normal. She was bitten on the earlobe and the rest of the same side of her face got puffy over the first few days all the way up to the mouth and nares, then started to subside but it was a very slow process. I used VetRX on her face since I was worried about sinus complications and wanted to make sure she didn't get stuffy. I put it around her nose, but she also seemed to like having it rubbed on her earlobe and throat. Only had to do that for the first week and then the swelling had retreated far enough back from her sinuses that I was less worried about something secondary setting in. Two of the puncture marks got crusty and drained a small bit of clear fluid a couple of times early on and then dried up and became almost invisible; most of the puffiness was just irritation/inflammation and not an abscess or something similar. Her face is fine now, although she still has a little lump left on the earlobe where the worst puncture mark was, but I think that may be scar tissue.

Snake is still gone; don't expect it to come back. Good riddance. A couple of other much more peaceful garters have since moved into the area in front of the house. I don't mind them; they run away from both the chickens and me.

Anyway, just wanted to give some more details about the snake bite situation in case any one else runs into something that, since I couldn't find much at the time when I first realized what had happened to that hen.

 

[Rose_adamaj]

I have a large garter snake that has taken up residence under my house's front step. I have tried to deter it via cayenne pepper around gaps, which only works until it rains, then it's back. It's getting more and more aggressive and today darted out and started attacking my boot - wouldn't leave me alone. I had hold of a chicken at the time so my hands were occupied and I couldn't do anything except step on it and get a really good look to make sure it really was a garter snake (it is...no fangs, everything else looks right), and then kick it to the moon so I could put the chicken back without it harassing me. The ground was very soft so I doubt stepping on it did much and I'm sure it will be back. Soon I will have chicks needing to go out so this snake has to go one way or another but catching it has already proven tricky. I have never had one of these snakes act like this.

I have seen there are snake repellent balls and stuff; has anyone used those, and are they safe to use around chickens/dogs?

I have used snake repellent and it worked. It needs reapplied after rain. I don’t use it anywhere near my chickens!!!
Can you get a picture of the snake?
I think somewhere on BYC is information about making a snake trap. Here’s my crude attempt at explaining it.
Two, two liter bottles. Cut tops off approximately three inches from top. Cut bottom off one of the remaining bottoms. Might need both bottoms, idk. Take top, attach to open bottom part with lid pointing in. Attach other top to other end of bottom with top pointing in. It looks like a minnow trap if you know what that is. Attach using your method of choice. I like duct tape & masking tape.
Put bait in your trap & wait for snake to go in.
Hopefully someone will see this and give you the link. Best of luck!

 

[Awaytome]

While stepping on your snake might not have harmed it, that kick to the moon could have broken it's spine, in which case you won't have to worry about it bothering your chickens again!

One of my dogs once stepped on a diamondback rattlesnake while she was running down a wash in the desert. My dog was so fast I don't think the snake saw her coming. Broke the snake's spine and left it paralyzed. Poor thing couldn't do any more than flick its tongue so we put it out of its misery.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Check for shedding, snakes get defensive and aggressive when shedding.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Well, I thought the darned snake was gone. It's back, just not under the front door step. I have a hen that's extremely far-sighted, so she's a bit vision challenged for foraging, and she stumbled on it today. I don't think she could see what it was, so she was just casually doing the "hmm what's this?" head wiggle back and forth as it was slowly coiling up in front of her. It went for her as I scooped her up but it missed. Then it went into a crack in a cement wall before either my roosters or I could do anything about it. Blasted thing.

I thought it was gone, so I'd been letting my 2-week-old chicks out in a little tractor every couple days. Not safe if that thing's still hanging about.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Aaaand it's under the front door step again, all the better to bite my boot.

Meanwhile I have a hen that I initially thought got stung by a wasp on her face yesterday and now has ear lobe and facial swelling because of it, but I later realized the "sting" marks were kind of in a U-shape about the size of that stupid snake's head.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Ok so I really jinxed myself with that last post. It came out again when I let my chickens out. Why it's drawn to adult birds I have no idea. Anyway, with some rooster help and following another ridiculous snake battle, I now have an angry but seemingly unharmed snake in a Tupperware and don't know what to do with it.

It has four rear fangs (not 2 like garters are supposed to have??) and squirted some juice from near those teeth while I had hold of its head and it was giving me a really good look inside the mouth. Venom? Just snake spit? Some other secretion? I don't know. Definitely what bit my poor hen with the puffy face though (who is doing good, just puffy).