Skip to main content
#
Southeastern Reptile Rescue
Home
Snake School for Dogs
SnakesAreUsTV
Special Event Info
Calendar
Have a Snake or Alligator Problem?
Snakes
Adopt/DonateaReptile
Merchandise
Customer Reviews
Donate
Jason Clark
ContactUs

Sign Up Here!
Enter your e-mail address to receive updates from us.

Email Address

Email list signup

Snake Man theme song
by Carman Clark

All Snake Killers
Click Here

 

 

God has made us different,
he made us so unique.
We slither on the ground,
we have no hands and feet.
Though you find us scary,
or maybe just plain weird,
our intentions are not to hurt you
or cause you such great fear.
Our venom's not meant for humans
but to help us when we eat.
So, please stop the senseless killing
before we're all extinct.
We're not saying you have to love us
or tell us we're the best.
God's the one who created us.
So, treat us with respect.

written by Sarah Clark
for Southeastern Reptile Rescue

 

 

Fears are educated into us
and can, if we wish,
be educated out.
-Karl A. Merringer


A righteous man cares for
the needs of his animal...
Proverbs 12:10

The snake is an animal.
It has a backbone and a heart.
It has red blood.
It drinks water and eats food.
It breathes air and feels fear
just like every other
animal in the world.
And, it's in a body that's
the hardest thing
for the average
person to understand.
(author-unknown)

 Guide To A Snake Free Yard 

Guide to a Snake Free Yard
Many things can attract snakes to your property.
To reduce that snake population,
here is what you need to know right now.


Hiding Places
A snake will always look for a place to hide. Snakes are normally not found out in the middle of a clean and open yard, but rather in brush piles, under houses, leaves and other debris. Eliminate areas where snakes may want to hide. Low growing shrubbery should be trimmed up off the ground. Plants such as ivy, juniper, monkey grass, lantana and other low growing vegetation that hide the ground around them should only exist in areas you are comfortable with snakes living. Pine straw is often used in flower beds and around homes. While pine straw itself doesn't necessarily attract snakes, it does afford them an easy place to burrow and hide once they find it. Instead of pine straw, consider using mulch, bark or rock. These do not repel snakes but, snakes have a tougher time trying to hide underneath it. Storage items can harbor snakes as well. The underside of lawnmowers are favorite haunts but they seem to love the nooks and cranies of stacks of fire wood even more. Stacking firewood and other items up, off the ground helps tremendously.  Yard debris such as dead leaves, limbs and branches should always be removed and never left in a pile on or near the property.

Snake Food
Following the scent trails of prey can often be what leads a snake to your yard to begin with. Once a snake arrives, an ample food supply and hiding places make it want to stay. Bird feeders attract more than birds. They also attract snakes. As bird seed falls from the feeder, mice are attracted to the area in addition to birds, squirrels and other rodents. (Only feed birds in winter. This is when birds need it the most and snakes are not actively searching for food during this time.) Feeding birds, squirrels, deer and even pets can contribute to a snake finding your yard suitable. When feeding pets outdoors, only provide an appropriate amount of food for them to consume in one sitting. Left over cat or dog food or food or food meant for other wildlife is often carried off by rats and mice when no one's around. Just as a K-9 tracks the scent trail of a criminal, a snake tracks the scent trail left by its prey as it wanders around your yard gathering bits of food. Another thing to consider is night time lighting. Porch lights attract moths. Moths attract frogs and toads and some snakes love frogs and/or toads for dinner. Also, do not leave garbage or any other items lying around for long periods of time that may begin to attract mice and rats. Some natural food sources on your property may not be easy to curb. For instance, oak trees produce acorns. Acorns attract squirrels, mice and rats. In cases where you can’t control natural food sources, changing the habitat by reducing the snakes available hiding places becomes even more important if your goal is to see very few snakes.

Snake Repellant
Snake Repellents (no matter which brand you buy) Do Not Repel Snakes!
Diet, body temperature and other biological aspects of snakes complicate the potential for developing such snake controls. In our opinion, anyone who tries to sell you snake repellant either does not know what they're doing or are just trying to take your money.

Moth Balls
Moth Balls Do Not Repel Snakes! Moth balls contain a chemical known as naphthalene and/or paradichlorobenzene. Both chemicals are suspected cancer causing agents. If you apply mothballs to your home or outside property, they begin to produce a gas as a result of a chemical reaction that happens when it is exposed to the air. If you can smell the pungent odor produced by the mothballs, then you are inhaling the gas that causes much more harm than it ever will good.

Lime
Lime Does Not Repel Snakes. It is often thought that a perimeter of lime burns the belly of the snake preventing it from wanting to enter beyond the chemical barrier. A snakes skin is covered with scales that greatly help prevent such chemical burns. So, lime is not effective.

Sulfur
The strong smell of sulfur is said to negatively affect a snakes ability to detect scent with its tongue via the Jacobson’s organ located in the roof of its mouth. To be effective, sulfur would have to be used in such great amounts that people would also not be able to inhabit the area.

Other Chemical Controls
Many other chemicals and various home remedies are often suggested for repelling snakes and most have been scientifically tested. These include mothballs, lime, sulfur, cayenne pepper spray, cinnamon, gourd vines, a tacky bird repellant, sisal rope, coal tar, creosote, artificial skunk scent and musk from a king snake (king snakes eat other snakes). None of these remedies prevented the snakes from crossing them.

So what does all this mean?
We cannot totally prevent snakes from entering our property but we can lessen the chance of them choosing to stay in areas that are heavily trafficked by people. Instead of living in fear, we must learn to co-exist with snakes and understand that they play a very valuable role in the environment and even in your backyard. To insist that your property MUST be snake free is a battle you’ll definitely lose. Instead, learn which snakes are dangerous. Most of them are not. As you remove hiding places and food sources, snakes will feel more comfortable bypassing your property for your neighbors.

What can you do right now?
 Consider having a licensed professional from Southeastern Reptile Rescue visit your property for an evaluation. We can help you understand what will and will not work for your unique situation and can also remove nuisance snakes that may be found there.
Call us at
404-557-2470 for more information.

 

One of the NATURAL predators of reptiles.
Are you living with snakes? Almost everyone has snakes on their property and for some reason does not want them there. Southeastern Reptile Rescue understands that not everyone is like us and does not appreciate a black rat snake sharing the garage. Because of this, we are here to give you information on how to snake proof your home without killing the snakes. You must first understand that we at Southeastern Reptile Rescue do not believe in evolution. We believe in Almighty God who created all life and has a purpose and plan for everything. We are not trying to get everyone to love snakes as we do. We know that is impossible. We do however wish to give people understanding and discount the many myths surrounding snakes and show that some snakes are not bad to have around. Snakes do a wonderful job of keeping the rodent population in check. And, there are some of God's other creatures that keep the reptiles population in check. Man already does enough damage to the environment through polution and habitat destruction. Let's not make it worse by destroying the creatures that we built our houses on top of. REMEMBER - They were here first!
Site Mailing List 

NEVER ATTEMPT TO KILL,
CAPTURE OR HARRASS A SNAKE.
THIS IS HOW MOST BITES OCCUR.

All materials on SnakesAreUs.com
is the property of Southeastern Reptile Rescue, LLC
and subject to copyright protection
All Content © Copyright 2024 Southeastern Reptile Rescue