I’ve often heard “the only good snake is a dead snake.” Although I know there are some benefits to some snakes, please take precaution to prevent snakes from nesting near your home.
Warmer weather means wild creatures of all shapes and sizes are on the move, which makes it a whole lot more likely you will encounter a snake during the spring or summer. When people sometimes see snakes in or around their homes, they usually worry about whether the snakes are dangerous. Knowledge about snakes will help you understand how to handle situations when you find a snake on your property. For your safety in managing snake problems around your home, it is important to be able to identify snakes as venomous (poisonous) or nonvenomous (nonpoisonous) types. In most cases, the snakes around houses are harmless, such as garter, ribbon, ring neck, king or rat snakes. But Mississippi does have six types of venomous snakes: copperhead, cottonmouth or water moccasin, coral snake, canebrake or timber rattlesnake, pygmy rattlesnake, and eastern diamondback rattlesnake.
• Copperhead. The copperhead has pit viper characteristics and bands or hourglass markings of brown, copper, or red on a tan body. These 20- to 36-inch snakes (the record is 56 inches) have regional differences in color and size; the young have a bright-yellow tail tip. As with many (but not all) poisonous snakes, its head has a flat, triangular shape, and its pupils are vertical (cat-like).
• Cottonmouth. The semiaquatic western cottonmouth or water moccasin, also has pit viper characteristics. The adult has a banded or blotched upper body that is olive brown or black, with a lighter underside. Although often hard to tell from the nonvenomous water snake, a cottonmouth often appears more aggressive. Water snakes may or may not leave quickly when threatened, but cottonmouth often raises its head and appears more aggressive by confronting an enemy with a show of fangs inside a cotton-white mouth.
• Coral Snake. The coral snake is an exception to the other venomous snakes of the United States because it has round pupils and an oval head. This reclusive snake is characterized by brightly colored bands of red, yellow, and black circling the body. The nonvenomous milk snake mimics the coral snake but has red stripes bordered by black (“red on black, my friend Jack”) rather than red stripes bordered by yellow (“red on yellow kills a fellow”). Because of its small mouth, the coral snake has trouble grasping and biting a much-larger human. If it does manage to bite, the effect from a coral snake can be more deadly than from a pit viper.
• Rattlesnake. The most distinguishing characteristic of rattlesnakes is, of course, rattles. The best way to discourage snakes around a home, such as in the yard or garden, is to make the area unattractive to them. Remove their habitat, including hiding places, foraging areas, and food resources.
In early spring, snakes are attracted to hot spots, such as metal cans or other heat-conducting items. Snakes are most active in warm months, when they like cool, damp, sheltered areas. Remove hiding cover for snakes near homes, including piles of boards or firewood, rock or brick piles, brushy fence rows, and weedy growth. Keeping the lawn mowed around the perimeter of your home minimizes hiding places and paths for snakes to your home. Check around cement walks or porches for cracks or holes that might let snakes in for shelter. Repair or close these places so snakes can’t use them.
If you store firewood for a fireplace or woodstove, keep the stack away from the house. You can store wood for a while near the house in cold months when snakes are inactive. Use a rack to keep the firewood at least 12 inches above the ground. Snakes are discouraged if the wood (shelter) is separated from the soil. Any structure or vegetation that provides a home for small rodents (mice and rats) also provides a home for the snakes that prey on them. Put food resources for rodents, like pet food, in secure closed containers to discourage rodents and the snakes that feed on them.
Check around the base of storage sheds. If snakes can crawl under them for protective cover, close off access with packed soil or building materials such as bricks, sheet metal, or small mesh metal hardware cloth. To keep out snakes effectively, use a barrier that extends about 6 inches below the soil surface. Snakes may push through loose soil, but they cannot dig through hard soil because they don’t have legs or claws.
Check around the foundation of your home for cracks or openings where snakes, mice, or other unwanted guests might enter. Close all openings larger than a quarter of an inch, and use latex caulk or insulating foam around any gaps where surface wires or pipes enter. Seal cracks in masonry foundations (poured concrete, concrete blocks, or bricks) with mortar. Repair holes in wooden buildings with sheet metal or fine mesh metal hardware cloth. For rural homes, be sure snakes cannot get in septic or treatment plant drain pipes. If the pipe or tile is open at the end, cover it with 1/4-inch metal mesh hardware cloth.
Check now and then to be sure the wire doesn’t interfere with drainage.
Repellents
Repellents are questionable at best for effectiveness at keeping snakes away from homes. No repellents are currently registered for snake control. Various home remedies have been suggested for repelling snakes, and several have been tested to determine if they repel black rat snakes. Treatments included moth balls, sulfur, gourd vines, a tacky bird repellent, lime, cayenne pepper spray, sisal rope, coal tar and creosote, artificial skunk scent, and musk from a king snake (eats other snakes). None of these worked. Some sticky materials, when applied in 18-inch bands around supporting poles, prevented snakes from climbing to wood duck nest boxes. This may keep snakes away from bird nest boxes mounted on poles, but otherwise it is not practical.
For more information to help identify snakes and understand their habits you may consult MSU Extension Information Sheet 641 Snakes Alive! How to Identify Snakes to learn more about them.
