Fences are a method of last resort, a large-scale effort to completely prevent any snakes from gaining access to a property. Here are common types of snake fences:
1) Regular solid fences, of wood or vinyl.
2) Temporary landscaping or construction fences, of plastic mesh or plastic fabric.
3) Steel mesh fencing, sticking up out of the ground at an angle.
4) Catch net fencing, which can trap snakes and other animals.
An effective snake fence must possess the following properties:
- Completely surround the perimeter of the property
- Be completely flush with the ground, preferably into the ground, in all areas
- Solid, or with a mesh of less than a quarter inch.
- Unclimbeable - either a slick surface, or sloped outward, perhaps at 30 degrees.
How to build a snake fence:
1) First, decide if you want a big, expensive, solid fence around your entire property! If the answer is yes, pick one, and during install, make sure the bottom gets buried into the ground at least a few inches. If that's not an option, do a regular fence install, then dig a ditch at the base of fence, and tack steel mesh to the bottom of the entire fence, into the ditch, and bury it. Snakes crawl along the ground, remember, so even a tiny gap at the bottom of a fence makes it worthless at keeping snakes off your property.
2) If you want a cheaper alternative, you can use temporary landscaping or construction netting. Again, be sure it is flush with the ground, or better yet, buried into the ground. This may be hard with soft materials.
3) Another cheap option, which is more effective, is to dig a ditch around the property, and install a steel mesh fence, sloping outward away from the property. It doesn't even have to be very high.
4) Some sellers sell a catch net, which is really more of a type of trap than a fence. The problem is that snakes vary in thickness, so only a small % of correctly sized snakes get caught in this type of snake fencing.
All of these options are a lot of work. Good luck!