People often contact us about snakes in their house. At our house, this would not be a crisis. But, then again, we are not often considered normal. Getting a snake out of a house and keeping a snake from enetering a house are two very different situations. We'll first discuss keeping the snakes out. Snakes enter houses in a variety of ways but there are three entry points that we often encounter on snake removal calls. The first is laundry rooms, the second is under kitchen sinks and the other most common entry point is right through your front door.
1. Your Laundry Room - Clothes driers have large exhaust hoses that attach to the rear of the appliance and lead through the wall to the outside where the hot air is expelled. Over time, these exhaust hoses can become worn and develop cracks. As a mouse approaches your house from the outside and finds the exhaust vent it can easily make entry into the hose. The mouse then walks through the crack in the hose and onto the floor of your laundry room. If there is no crack, the mouse can quickly and easly chew a hole. As we discussed in "Guide To A Snake Free Yard", snakes follow food sources and snakes love mice. Check your drier exhaust hose to make sure it's intact. Also, examine the exhaust vent on the exterior of the house (sometimes the exhaust vent is underneath the house in the crawl space). Insure that the vent is secure and is not wide open inviting wildlife to join you and your family.
2. Your Kitchen Sink - If your house is on a concrete slab then this may not apply to you. If you have a crawl space then pay attention! When your house was constructed, holes were put in the floor underneath your kitchen and bathroom sink. Once the holes are made, the plumbing pipes are inserted. If the hole is not properly sealed around the pipe then guess what can get inside! If the pipes were properly sealed when the house was built, make sure it is still in good shape and hasn't been chewed away by a rodent attempting to gain entry.
3. Your Front Door - Snakes are excellent at picking locks and crawling right in through the key hole. (I wonder how many people will actually believe this:) Actually, snakes can easily crawl under doors. The good news is, you can easily prevent it! During daylight hours while standing inside your house, shut your entry door and look to see if daylight is visible underneath. If you can see daylight peeking in then so can a snake. Simply replace the weather stripping underneath the door. Any local hardware store can help you correct any of the above problems.
