Take a good look around your property. You want to find areas
that are attractive to snakes, and eliminate those areas.
1 - Cut back vegetation. The more thick vegetation and places to
hide, the more snakes you'll attract. Of course, this applies to
ground-level vegetation. You don't need to trim your trees.
2 - Look for any gaps under concrete or stones. Snakes LOVE
these areas - they want to crawl into a tight crevice, and rocks
retain heat that they like. Fill in any such gaps with dirt or
gravel or a sealant. Read more about What
attracts snakes.
3- Inspect your house - look for gaps under bricks, ground level
concrete, gaps under garage doors or other doors. If you have a
screened-in porch or pool area, those doors are very vulnerable,
and look for holes in the screen. Any tight spot that snakes can
use to get in (either on purpose or by accident - many snakes
end up inside homes by accident!) and seal those gaps shut! For
doors, use weather stripping. Read about Can
snakes climb stairs or a wall?
How do you find a snake in your yard or on your property? It can
be hard. Snakes are great at hiding. They are camouflaged, they
slither into good hiding places. They can even live in trees:
read about Do snakes climb
trees? Usually persistence and ground covered is the best
way to find them. But you can also just leave them alone!
An analysis of the effectiveness of various Snake
Repellents
How to build and install different types of Snake
Fencing
Types of pets or animals that keep snakes away Snake
Guard Animals
How to keep snakes out of my garden
Where can I get free snake removal?
Do snakes hibernate?
Types of Florida water snakes
PS - This site used to be run by a guy who offered phone advice for snakes at $45 per 15-minute call, $5 a minute after that. Or $200 for a phone call on the weekends. To talk about snakes. With a man who sounds like he was a real treat to speak with. He also offered multi-thousand dollar snake inspections, in which he presumably told you what you could do to make your land less hospitable to snakes. Here is the original wonderful text that he posted on this site. Enjoy!
Inspection and Removal Service
We perform onsite, non-emergency inspections of properties, interiors, grounds, crawlspaces and attics for commercial, government and residential clients.
Our Interior Residential Site-Service Consists of Six Steps:
Our service includes a thorough, comprehensive inspection and evaluation of the site stipulated in the contract.
The systematic location, capture and removal of any physically accessible snakes found in the service area. Please note that by physically accessible we mean any snake that can be reached without resorting to structural or appliance disassembly, excavation or the use of demolition or pyrotechnics (and yes, we've actually been asked to do all of these, though of course, we declined).
The completion of the site diagnostic step begun during our telephone service consultation. 99% of our caseload can be sub-classified into one of the following types of snake activity: 1) itinerant or anomalous, 2) sporadic and 3) chronic.
Preventive or reductive measures. This section is also called the identification of species-specific points of attractiveness. There are over 115 species of snakes and countless sub-species of snakes recognized by the scientific community as living in the United States alone. They have different requirements, eat different types of prey and may even reproduce differently. We will determine if there are points of attractiveness present in or around the home that would serve to either attract or serve to sustain a given population of snakes. Your prompt removal of these points of attractiveness or your modification of those which cannot be removed will deprive snakes of a motive to remain there with you.
Identification of existing or developing points of access or entry leading into structures. Since the abilities of different species of snakes vary greatly (some are great climbers others - from the back of the remedial climbing class, are less so) and since it is often the species of snake which determines the openings most likely to be used, you can imagine how many openings are overlooked by laypersons and by the various problem generalist who momentarily insert themselves into our field. We will identify openings usable by snakes (90% of which can be filled by the average homeowner without having to hire a contractor). Keeping doors closed is not a bad idea either.
A detailed familiarization brief. Peace of mind and more precisely it's absence is why most of our clients initially contact us. Our familiarization brief is designed to enable a layperson to gain a better understanding of the snakes in their areas. How to distinguish the species with the capacity to inflict enormous medical costs and serous threats to the health of loved ones from those that are not only benign but (when found outside one's home) are often quite beneficial to humanity. We have often been told that this part of our service alone is will worth the cost. This goes a long way toward getting domestic harmony back on track in the vast majority of our cases. Some people, especially those whose snake encounters also involved either a bed or a commode, appear to take somewhat longer than others to be fully at ease in their homes again. Being supportive of them - even by doing little things, like keeping one's belts picked up off the bedroom floor, seems to go along way towards getting back on track.
Our knowledge, time, and experience are our inventory. In a slow year we get 5,000 calls. it takes at least 15 to 20 minutes to provide a Service Consultation to every caller we talk with. Costly experience has taught us we simply cannot talk to everyone. The only way for us to know that we are talking to someone who is serious about addressing their snake concern is by charging a Service Consultation fee of $45 dollars. Those who place value on their time become our clients. You will be talking with someone with at least 25 year of experience in working with snakes. We will even apply the Service Consultation fee towards the cost of the Site Service provided that we receive your faxed Service Contract within two business days of the Service Consultation. Should someone decide not to use our Site Service and they have not sent in their service contract, then the $45 Service Consultation fee is all that is ever charged. This has enabled us to avoid raising our rates since 1996.
The On-site Inspections and Removals are generally provided within 24 to 96 hours after the contract is returned. On-site Inspections and Removals are offered in over 24+ states coast to coast. All telephone calls to schedule local inspections are received at our National Home Office and are returned from there. The office hours are 9AM to 5PM CST, Monday through Friday. You may fill out either the Residential Service Consultation (Secure Site) form or the Commercial Consultation (Secure site) form schedule the inspection on line anytime, at your convenience.