I killed it dead!

[chiques chicks]

O would love to attract snakes to my property. I guess I'm weird, I'm working to create am area to attract wildlife while also having gardens, chickens, etc. Yes, I know I will lose some chickens and veggies, but that's the price I'll have to pay.

The rabbits eat some of my beans, the deer eat some corn. The wild birds, eat bugs, bit also spread weeds. The hawks keep the rabbits in check...

Now the groundhogs, different story. Wish I could catch them out.

How do I encourage snakes to move in?

 

[peckaboo]

I'm with you a snake is a snake! Yuck!

 

[dainerra]

chiques, the habitats and deadfalls that attract the wild birds and rabbits will also give the snakes a home. The wildlife will bring along the snakes if you give it time

 

[Phyrst]

I never relocate the black snakes unless I have a problem with eggs disappearing (only happened once in the last 7 years). Black snakes will eat smaller poisonous snakes, keeping them out of the yard with zero effort on your part. Add in the fact that they keep down the population of mice and it's a win/win situation.
I look at it this way - 1 big black snake who counts my yard as part of his category or a constant cycle of unknown snakes some of whom may be poisonous. There had been a black snake in the barn behind my yard until a neighbor killed him. Within a couple weeks, we started finding copperheads in our mowed yard (it was just past hatching season so the babies were on the move). Finally after several months of dispatching baby copperheads, another black snake moved in. He's now almost 6 feet long and we haven't had a snake problem since he moved in.

Black snakes are called that because there's several species of snakes colored black. It's a generic word we have adopted to label black snakes! It's like saying "a white person" (and this is just an example I'm using). A white person could be Irish, English, Scottish, etc. Same thing with black snakes. If you look up snakes, every black snake is something like "black king snake, black rat snake, black racer" etc. Personally, I think black snakes are very beneficial but I understand why some people don't like them. They stay where they have food and move on if their food runs out. Some black snakes do eat other snakes, usually smaller snakes but a black king snake will go after venomous snakes like rattle snakes and copperheads. Just thought I'd put that out there. I think there is a black snake in Australia that is venomous. Here in US there are no venomous black snakes!!

 

[Courts Clucks]

We are firm believers that everything has a role in the ecosystem. I live on a very large property littered with all sorts of habitats so I see all the varieties of snakes. I have a two year old niece that comes out and I don't like the off chance that she get bit. Poisionous or not. So we tend to move the critters back to the hay barns, ponds, timber, etc. When they get around the house is when they make me nervous. Add to that the dogs "protecting" us. It is easier for me to deal with the critter safely, either moving it or killing it, than to worry over their infections and possible death. There is a lot of conservation ground around us and the conservationist get a kick out of my "rehome" requests. I have started letting them go on our side of the fence and hope they go to the conservation ground because there is a mountain lion and a few bobcats around. I would rather not look like their meals on wheels program.

 

[hearts34]

I relocate when I can. Sometimes it isn't possible due to mixed company, most people think the only good snake is a dead snake. I won't even kill venomous snakes unless they are near a residence.

A few years ago I had to take a huge eastern grey rat snake. He was pushing 6 feet long and as big around as the skinny end of a baseball bat. Must have taken him 20 years to get that size. I still feel bad about that. : (

 

[99Peeps]

This is a very interesting article. I rather like snakes, and I do believe that they all have good and bad to them (who doesn't right?). My husband subscribes to the philosophy that "the only good snake, is a dead snake," so I try to keep him away from the poor darlings or he goes "Red Queen" on them too!

Here in Colorado, we have about 25 breeds of snake, but only 2 are poisonous, so that takes a lot of worry out of the equation.

Thanks for all the information and resources.

 

[okallthis4eggs]

I'll take all of the snakes and bats I can get. Problem is when I run out of mice and mosquitos they go someplace else.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

I have several Garter Snakes that have been hanging out in my backyard for 4 or 5 years now. The males come and go with regularity, but the females hang around and I see them or their babies often. The females I have named, they are pertty benign and very useful to have around.




The neighbors call me if there is anything bigger that turns up. Bull Snakes have been a problem recently. I have caught and relocated 8 or so of them in the last 3 or 4 years. I think that they are using the Hillsborough Ditch...as most of these snakes that I have been called about were within feet to several hundred yards of the ditch.

I have only caught and removed one bull snake so far this summer...but we'll see.

 

[Phyrst]

I have several Garter Snakes that have been hanging out in my backyard for 4 or 5 years now. The males come and go with regularity, but the females hang around and I see them or their babies often. The females I have named, they are pertty benign and very useful to have around.The neighbors call me if there is anything bigger that turns up. Bull Snakes have been a problem recently. I have caught and relocated 8 or so of them in the last 3 or 4 years. I think that they are using the Hillsborough Ditch...as most of these snakes that I have been called about were within feet to several hundred yards of the ditch.

I have only caught and removed one bull snake so far this summer...but we'll see.

Good picture! Thanks for posting.