Did you spot a snake in your yard? Don’t panic, as it may belong to a non-poisonous specie. However, snakes quickly retaliate when you try to attack them. Hence, it’s better to leave it alone for the time being. You should also close the doors of your house to prevent its entry into your living space.
At the same time, you can’t let it roam around and spread fear, especially when the specie is unknown, as it could be poisonous. The best thing to do in this emergency situation is to call a wildlife control company to remove it from the yard. It’s a temporary solution, as you can have snakes revisiting your house’s parameters. Don’t worry; our eight practical tips on keeping snakes out of a yard can help you in this case.
Let’s get started with our tried and tested snake repelling guide.
8 Ways to Keep Snakes Out of Your Yard
1. Pour Organic Repelling Agents
You can find multiple items in your kitchen that can remove snakes from your yard. The most effective options are clove oil, cinnamon oil, and vinegar. This solution is pretty cost-effective and simple. You can pour any of the above ingredients in the area where snake activity was noticed. Your yard can finally get rid of these dangerous creatures.
Let’s explore which elements of these ingredients show the effective snake-repelling activity.
Cinnamon, clove, and other organic oils
Essential oils with a strong smell can irritate the snake’s senses. The smelling power of snakes is pretty intense, which adds to their discomfort. Hence they end up leaving your yard. You can also use eugenol oil for this purpose.
How to Prepare Cinnamon Oil to Keep Snakes Out of Your Yard?
Preparing the essential oil to keep snakes away is very simple. You have to mix at least eight drops of oil in three liters of water. Transfer this solution into a spray bottle and sprinkle it around every area where snakes can potentially come. You can also dip cotton balls in oil and place them around, forcing the snake to empty your lawn.
Vinegar
Spraying vinegar around your house’s perimeter is also effective in keeping snakes away. It’s an easy, cheaper, and non-toxic technique. Vinegar has a sharp, spicy, and acidic smell that no snake would like to experience. Hence, they’d keep a distance from your yard.
Although these methods show effective results, putting all your expectations on them isn’t a good idea. You should also try other ways to ensure no snake roams around your lawn.
2. Remove Stagnant Water
Standing water in your yard can attract snakes, especially in summer. It’s because they require moisture to keep their scales hydrated. Even small puddles and moist grass can invite snakes. Hence, it gets important to eliminate every water-based element to keep snakes out of your yard.
Let’s explore multiple effective ways to achieve this goal.
Avoid overwatering
It’s essential to prevent overwatering the yard’s greenery. This practice can quickly gather standing water, attracting snakes to house your lawn. Also, the best plant watering hours are in the early morning so that the sun can soak up the extra moisture effectively.
Install a drainage system
Areas that receive heavy rains must have a drainage system to prevent flooding from rainwater or other sources. A french drain is a practical and cost-effective solution in this case. You can even install it by yourself.
3. Keep Natural Predators
To keep snakes away, you can consider petting animals like cats, pigs, hens, or turkeys. These are a few natural predators with the potential to scare snakes away. Even foxes or raccoons possess a similar property, but they are aggressive animals and unsuitable for domestication.
A practical alternative is available if you don’t want to pet any animal. You can spread fox urine in snake-prone areas. It works fine to force snakes away from your yard. Many commercial brands sell it under the category of organic snake repellents. You can also set up a perch pole in the yard to attract owls and hawks. These birds are secondary snake predators.
4. Fill Burrows
Many creatures can dig holes in your ground, including earthworms and other insects. Snakes coopt these underground spaces to live. Also, some snake species can burrow a shelter in soil for themselves. In each case, the solution is to fill these holes, devoiding snakes from their home. They would keep a distance from your yard after finding no burrow to inhabit.
A burrow is important for these venomous creatures for multiple reasons. They hide inside it to stay safe from predators, thermoregulate, and lay eggs. Not just in ground holes, but they can also find shelter in tree trunk pits, plant litter, or outcrop rocks. You should also consider removing these things from your yard besides filling the burrows.
How to Fill Burrows In Your Yard?
You can easily backfill the dirt with your hands to enclose it if it’s a small hole. You should also press the soil to ensure stable ground leveling. Filling a deep burrow with dirt can cost you some extra money as you’d have to buy it. Instead, place some heavy rocks and bricks inside to fill maximum space. Now you can add soil to close the hole. Don’t forget to run a lawn roller to level the uneven surface effectively.
5. Mow Grass Frequently
Tall grass in a yard can work as the perfect hiding spot for snakes. Moreover, you’d stay unaware of their presence to apply an effective snake-repelling method. Overgrown grass also houses other creatures like rats, and different insects, which snakes feed on. Hence, they’d not be leaving the area at all.
It’s critical to create and follow a strict mowing schedule, or else snakes would live inside your property without you having a single clue about it. You should use a weed eater or trimmer to eliminate the excessive grass effectively. Keeping a close eye on other vegetation growth around your lawn is also crucial.
6. Grow Snake-Repelling Plants
You can grow some specific plants that repel snakes from your yard. They include marigolds, allium, lemongrass, garlic, snakeroots, snake plants, and king of bitters.
Let’s briefly overview a few of them and how they function to keep snakes away.
Lemongrass
This plant belongs to the citrus family, emitting a strong odor. Since snakes can’t stand sharp smells, they’d leave your yard instantly.
Marigold
Marigold. a plant with attractive flowers, can enhance your yard’s beauty while repelling snakes and other pests away. It has a strong fragrance that snakes hate so that you wouldn’t see these uninvited members on your lawn again.
Snake plant/mother-in-law’s tongue
The leaves of this plant are pointed, which can scare snakes. Also, their presence can be a beautiful addition to your plants’ collection. They don’t even require extra maintenance.
Vegetable plants
Not just flowering plants but a few vegetable ones like garlic and onion can also help keep snakes out of your yard. Their smell is sharp enough to irritate them. At the same time, they ooze out the oil that can stick to the snake’s body, causing discomfort. Hence, they prefer to maintain distance from such flora.
King of bitters
The roots and leaves of this plant have a bitter aroma to repel snakes. Elegant white flowers grow on it that double fold the outdoor beauty. This plant is a common occurrence in Asian countries, including Malaysia.
7. Install Snake-Proof Fence
Installing a snake-proof fence can keep rattlesnakes from entering the yard. This specie of snake is the most harmful putting your kids or pets at risk. However, this solution isn’t effective for harmless snakes, who can still climb to inhabit your house’s perimeter. You should only consider installing a fence if your home is near an area native to the dangerous rattlesnakes.
There are multiple factors to look for when opting for this snake-repelling method. It should be presentable, tough to last long, and 100% functional. Calling a fencing service provider is the easiest way out. You can compare quotes and reviews from different companies to make an ideal choice.
8. Get Rid of Food Sources
Snakes love feeding on rodents as they are carnivorous. If your yard has these creatures in abundance, it’s most likely to attract snakes into the area. They also prey on small lizards, grasshoppers, or earthworms. Animal eggs like that of birds and frogs are also their favorite thing to savor. Hence, you should consider eliminating all of its food sources. The snake would find a new space to inhabit when it’d get nothing to eat in your yard.
Wrapping Up
Although non-venomous snakes are an excellent pest control option for your yard, there are many reasons to eliminate them. It gets necessary when you don’t know whether the snake roaming on your lawn is poisonous or not. This creature can create panic among your kids, and hinder them from participating outdoor activities. Multiple reasons like these are enough to keep snakes out of your yard. We hope that you’d not panic anymore by seeing a snake and instead follow any of our eight strategies to remove them from your yard effectively.
