Garter Snake infestation

[Zoomie]

Say what!?!?!?!?

LOL, agreed... "huge" (among other things...)? The Wikipedia article calls them "small to medium size", not huge.

I've handled some fairly large snakes, in the range of 6 to 7 feet long. Those are not even particularly huge snakes, and they were sure not garter snakes... Here is a quote from an article about garter snakes: "Garter snakes are relatively small, usually between 23 and 30 inches (58 and 76 centimeters), though sometimes growing as long as 5 feet (1.5 meters)." (https://www.livescience.com/44072-garter-snake.html) Personally I do not consider that size to be huge.

 

[sourland]

Not huge, not aggressive, not capable of eating eggs or chipmunks - don't know where some of you folks get your information - surely not from personal experience. I second the , "Say what ?"

 

[sannabelle]

Perhaps some people are confusing garter snakes with another breed of snake? I have never encountered a garter snake I would consider to be "huge."

 

[sannabelle]

Also, for the original post- snakes are a sign of a good healthy eco system! As are frogs and toads. Every time you see one just give yourself a little pat for providing such a lovely safe haven for nature to do its thing!

 

[CapricornFarm]

I first noticed that the chipmunks were disappearing. I used to see a few of them every day in the yard and I haven't seen one in weeks.

Then I was mowing one day and saw a big 30"ish garter snake slithering away. That same day I saw another big one on the other end of the yard, a good 150ft away trimming some bushes and it had a more brownish color. I see them almost every day now, often times in daylight. Chickens are cooped at night and eggs havent been touched, but these snakes are creeping people out and i'm afraid of getting bitten one day or the chickens getting hurt during free ranging times. A side note here: None of these snakes tried to bite me, they all either stayed in position or ran away... do garter snakes actually bite? or do they leave you alone? How common is it?

Any way to get rid of them? The snake repellents on amazon all have iffy reviews.. Would adopting an indoor/outdoor cat help?

These snakes trim bushes? Got to get some of those!

 

[chickens really]

If you only seen two? I don't think you have a problem....They won't get your Chickens or your eggs....As mentioned they are possibly getting ready to den for the winter....

 

[chickencheeper]

Not huge, not aggressive, not capable of eating eggs or chipmunks - don't know where some of you folks get your information - surely not from personal experience. I second the , "Say what ?"

I live in Massachusetts so "huge" to me is 1-2 feet long. I have been bitten by many garter snakes when I have been gardening and stick my hand into bushes and the bigger garter snakes (2 footers) can swallow a chicken egg if they try hard enough. That being said large hens can eat small garter snakes. BTW it is "venomous" not "poisonous" poison is ingested and can be injected but venom is only injected. The correct term to refer to snakes is venomous. And garter snakes are not venomous though you can get nasty infections from their bites. But maybe in terms of aggressiveness the ones around me are just "a bad crowd" Lol

 

[theuglychick]

As kids we grew up playing with garter and ribbon snakes, I can't think of how they could pose a danger to anything. None were ever aggressive and were easily caught and handled. We always let them go. Maybe Salmonella if you don't wash your hands?

But... I've heard turkeys and peacocks are good at keeping some small snakes populations down. Maybe you can use the snakes as a reason to add to your flock

 

[chickens really]

I live in Massachusetts so "huge" to me is 1-2 feet long. I have been bitten by many garter snakes when I have been gardening and stick my hand into bushes and the bigger garter snakes (2 footers) can swallow a chicken egg if they try hard enough. That being said large hens can eat small garter snakes. BTW it is "venomous" not "poisonous" poison is ingested and can be injected but venom is only injected. The correct term to refer to snakes is venomous. And garter snakes are not venomous though you can get nasty infections from their bites. But maybe in terms of aggressiveness the ones around me are just "a bad crowd" Lol

I would be more scared of infection if a person or a Cat bit me though.....Spent two days getting intervenous antibiotic after a Cat bit me....Anything with teeth can cause infection though....I hope you can deal with the snakes....Here it's salamanders that my Chickens and Ducks hate.....Anyways....Best of luck!

 

[centrarchid]

To best of my knowledge, the Garter Snakes are venomous as far as many of their prey are concerned. The venom apparently has little or no impact on humans. A 2 foot long Garter Snake would have considerable difficulty consuming more than a quail egg.