Is there a such a thing as a snake trap our yard is having a problem with garden snakes,I don't know why we haven't had this problem until recently.I just put them in a bucket and relocate many 20 snakes a day I was wondering if there is something where I can change it out every day.
snake trap
- Thread starter mattman
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CitizenNumber9
Arachnobaron
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I believe moth balls will get rid of them.
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Why the burning need to relocate them? Just curious.
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First of all, there is no such thing as a "garden" snake. There are GARTER Snakes, and I assume this is what you mean. Why the need to eliminate them? They are totally harmless, and a lot of Garters usually indicates a healthy ecosystem. There is no effective snake repellent, only gimmicks, and NO, moth balls will not repel snakes unless there is sufficient numbers of moth balls to repel humans, as well! Moth balls are poisonous to pets and children and are a leading cause of poisoning in both, so putting them around outside is inviting a disaster that YOU will be accountable for. I have seen humane snake traps offered got sale, that do not injure the snakes, but they are very expensive, and of course there is nothing "humane" at all about those awful glue boards.
Pitbulllady
Pitbulllady
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The most effective snake trap I've seen was a minnow trap. We could put one out beside our pier and if we didn't check it often enough there would be a cotton mouth in it. I don't know how to make that work for terrestrials but it certainly worked for aquatics. And it's humane. Another one I've heard (not so humane) is make a box with a hole on each side with an egg in the center. The idea is that the snake eats the egg (or whatever you use for bait) and can't fit through the holes. I've heard of people using live bait using a wire cage, same concept.
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You still did not answer my question: WHY is it so imperative to get rid of these Garter Snakes, when you know that they are harmless, to the extent that you are considering killing them? And NO, I DO NOT recommend that you "got out side with you .22 and a full magazine"; I just do not not understand why the presence of these snakes is a problem in the first place.
Pitbulllady
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Hold on a moment!
as in WHOA! Before this turns into a flame fest, OP, please state your reasoning and intentions as clearly as possible.
ALSO, please keep in mind you may be treading on very thin ice here. The people on this forum generally love and appreciate animals and won't tolerate depredation without a very good reason.
For the rest who have just tuned in, let's try to clearly understand what is going on before grabbing the torch and pitchfork. Maybe a problem can be easily solved.
as in WHOA! Before this turns into a flame fest, OP, please state your reasoning and intentions as clearly as possible.
ALSO, please keep in mind you may be treading on very thin ice here. The people on this forum generally love and appreciate animals and won't tolerate depredation without a very good reason.
For the rest who have just tuned in, let's try to clearly understand what is going on before grabbing the torch and pitchfork. Maybe a problem can be easily solved.
For example when my sister was in my garden in the backyard today. She found five mature garder snake in a small 7"by4" garden.I got in trouble for not taking care of the problem since apparently since I have one reptile two them "all girls in the house"I know everything in the world about reptiles.and I'm angry of getting in trouble for them.I told them they were not dangerous but they said snake are snake I don't like them.next Time I'm going to pay off my sister to not tell mom.
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So, let me see if I understand this...your sisters blame YOU for the presence of native wild animals in the outdoors, and you feel responsible for there being animals outdoors because you happen to keep an animal like that yourself...is that what is going on? I'm not "flaming" you, just needing clarification on this.
Pitbulllady
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It sounds to me like the family members are scared of snakes and since the OP has one the responsibility to remove the snakes has been thrust upon them. It happens to me all the time. People think that since I have kept snakes that it's up to me to make sure there are none around and if there are I receive the full brunt of the ensuing panic attack. With great power comes great responsibility
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Okay, that's my limit.
"For example when my sister was in my garden in the backyard today. She found five mature garder snake in a small 7"by4" garden.I got in trouble for not taking care of the problem since apparently since I have one reptile two them "all girls in the house"I know everything in the world about reptiles.and I'm angry of getting in trouble for them.I told them they were not dangerous but they said snake are snake I don't like them.next Time I'm going to pay off my sister to not tell mom.
Let's start with 'sister was in my garden'. Remove all other animals from the world and humans would last a couple of weeks, tops. It's not your garden. You are caretaker of a patch of the world. It was here long before homo erectus got up on two legs and will be here long after we have mangled the environment to the point where we can no longer live on this ball of dirt.
You can, if you choose, sterilize it so only what you or your family members deem acceptable lives there, very common with humans, but like it or not, it is attached to the rest of the world you have no control of. CONTROL. This is the BIG ILLUSION. Humans can destroy and restrict, but as the saying goes, mother nature bats last. And she's packing a much bigger bat. Humans are fantastically self centered and egocentric. We only want our little toys and tidbits around us, neatly ordered. We don't even want to think of the fact all life as we know it would come to a screeching halt without all those nasty creepy crawlies we don't want near our cushy fluffy sterile lives.
'got in trouble'. Please repeat until memorized, "It is not my problem. It is not a problem at all. It is a part of life." Not a problem. The snakes have no problem. The humans have a problem in that they can't handle the real world. Suck it up and tough it out. I removed 45 rattlers from a nest next to the horses hitching rail one summer. The problem was we put the hitching rail was next to a rattler nest. Not the snake nest was next to the hitching rail. WE, the humans, caused the problem.
Now, you and your family are darned lucky a little slice of nature has chosen to cozy up to you. A harmless little slice at that. When the occasional cobra cruises our yard, that is exactly how I feel. Because it isn't the yard of my wife, myself, our dog and the cats. We share it. We do not depredate it. If the snake doesn't move on we have to bring the dog in the house and watch our step when we go out. Because the yard also belongs to that snake, and whatever else that wants to cruise our mutual shared environment. They can't read the text of the piece of paper that says we own this chunk of dirt. Wouldn't it be just a little tiny bit, a few trillion light years, the far side of asinine for us to expect them to abide by the boundaries set down in that document?
That's the reality. Now make your GD choice. Destroy and control, or get over yourselves and GET A FREAKING GRIP! God mode only belongs in video games.
"For example when my sister was in my garden in the backyard today. She found five mature garder snake in a small 7"by4" garden.I got in trouble for not taking care of the problem since apparently since I have one reptile two them "all girls in the house"I know everything in the world about reptiles.and I'm angry of getting in trouble for them.I told them they were not dangerous but they said snake are snake I don't like them.next Time I'm going to pay off my sister to not tell mom.
Let's start with 'sister was in my garden'. Remove all other animals from the world and humans would last a couple of weeks, tops. It's not your garden. You are caretaker of a patch of the world. It was here long before homo erectus got up on two legs and will be here long after we have mangled the environment to the point where we can no longer live on this ball of dirt.
You can, if you choose, sterilize it so only what you or your family members deem acceptable lives there, very common with humans, but like it or not, it is attached to the rest of the world you have no control of. CONTROL. This is the BIG ILLUSION. Humans can destroy and restrict, but as the saying goes, mother nature bats last. And she's packing a much bigger bat. Humans are fantastically self centered and egocentric. We only want our little toys and tidbits around us, neatly ordered. We don't even want to think of the fact all life as we know it would come to a screeching halt without all those nasty creepy crawlies we don't want near our cushy fluffy sterile lives.
'got in trouble'. Please repeat until memorized, "It is not my problem. It is not a problem at all. It is a part of life." Not a problem. The snakes have no problem. The humans have a problem in that they can't handle the real world. Suck it up and tough it out. I removed 45 rattlers from a nest next to the horses hitching rail one summer. The problem was we put the hitching rail was next to a rattler nest. Not the snake nest was next to the hitching rail. WE, the humans, caused the problem.
Now, you and your family are darned lucky a little slice of nature has chosen to cozy up to you. A harmless little slice at that. When the occasional cobra cruises our yard, that is exactly how I feel. Because it isn't the yard of my wife, myself, our dog and the cats. We share it. We do not depredate it. If the snake doesn't move on we have to bring the dog in the house and watch our step when we go out. Because the yard also belongs to that snake, and whatever else that wants to cruise our mutual shared environment. They can't read the text of the piece of paper that says we own this chunk of dirt. Wouldn't it be just a little tiny bit, a few trillion light years, the far side of asinine for us to expect them to abide by the boundaries set down in that document?
That's the reality. Now make your GD choice. Destroy and control, or get over yourselves and GET A FREAKING GRIP! God mode only belongs in video games.
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I like the way you think.
HungryGhost
Arachnoknight
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Tell mom and sis to stay the f#ck inside until winter. The snakes where here first.
CitizenNumber9
Arachnobaron
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This thread has made me giggle 
Thank you PBL for explaining moth balls, I didn't really know anything about them other than that some people throw them under the house to repel snakes.
Anywho, OP, try explaining to your family that you are not the pied piper of snakes and that you cannot control the hormones that are causing them to attempt mass procreation in the yard. I would suggest getting on Google and digging up an article on the breeding habits of garter snakes in an attempt to ease their concerns of being eaten by said creatures. Explain to them that they will not be there forever, that the mating season will eventually be over, and once that happens, the number of snakes will drop from 10 million to about 10 thousand.
Thank you PBL for explaining moth balls, I didn't really know anything about them other than that some people throw them under the house to repel snakes.Anywho, OP, try explaining to your family that you are not the pied piper of snakes and that you cannot control the hormones that are causing them to attempt mass procreation in the yard. I would suggest getting on Google and digging up an article on the breeding habits of garter snakes in an attempt to ease their concerns of being eaten by said creatures. Explain to them that they will not be there forever, that the mating season will eventually be over, and once that happens, the number of snakes will drop from 10 million to about 10 thousand.
Cheers Mattman for coming here to post and looking for a non-kill option to your issue. And shame on you condemners and begrudgers.
Guy comes here to our space to ask how to best preserve the creatures we love, and we were kinda pretentious and condescending.
I understand the passion, but seriously... was there any real confusion towards what kind of snake he was talking about? Was there any need to be less than friendly about it?
As I kid I realized it wasn't that people didn't like me for liking snakes and stuff, they didn't like me cuz I was a corrective little @$$hole. I regularly let my love for snakes and emotion override and I'd act like a dick, when really most of the time it didn't matter if they found a frog or a toad, garter snake or garden snake. They found it, thought it was cool, didn't step on it, and that is good enough for me. We can say "that's a toad, actually, note the differences..." once they appreciate it, not ruin their excitement off the bat. No one likes a know-it-all, anyway.
Once your passion overcomes your sensibility, you are feeding bad perceptions - not reversing them.
People don't go out of their way to ask us how to move a snake because we constantly correct them and tell them they're stupid for killing snakes. If we jumped out and corrected every single person who called a salamander a lizard, an amblypygid a spider, and every snake a copperhead we'd be village @$$hole and have NO friends who send us pics of the snakes/spiders they just safely released.
Guy was looking for help for his family, for snakes, and for us. He wants his family happy, the snakes happy, and that makes us happy. I think we were pretty off-putting. We were "that guy."
I bring this up because not only do I see it on the forum often, I do it myself all the time. Then I look back and say "great, just made another guy hate spiders."
We are lucky Matt even continued to read this thread... another guy mighta said "well F you, I'm gonna go get the shovel"
thank GOD he knows he was wrong and now knows the difference between Garter and Garden snake though, world of difference.
---------- Post added 07-11-2014 at 03:53 PM ----------
Matt, in addition to exploring options in minimizing numbers or moving snakes, I'd start with trying to give your family a positive experience. If you are comfortable or have a friend who is comfortable holding snakes, show them one. Show them the garter snakes you are finding are harmless, explain that they are often beneficial, and maybe explain the high numbers. They may never like snakes, but there is certainly a better chance they'll look at it in a different light and think twice before they want to kill it or run away.
For all you know you might be able to convince them that, though maybe creepy, they are only there so long and maybe they will live with them.
Good luck man and thanks for seeking our advice.
I'm assuming the rest of you who cannot possibly understand why a high density of snakes around the home might freak someone out must spare every single ant, roach, centipede, scorpion, widow, etc. that enters the home - right? They were here before us, just doing their thing.
---------- Post added 07-11-2014 at 06:16 PM ----------
OP: It might be useful, especially when interpreting people's suggestions/constructive criticisms, to know that relocation is a worse-case-scenario effort in many cases. It is far from ecologically friendly, but with urban expansion and human wildlife interactions increasing ecologists are faced with testing/exploring this option.
A good start would be to find a local reptile expert or herpetological society!
If the snakes are denning or breeding in your area, the spot has likely been there for a very, very long time. It's something special really. I know it might seem horrible to some, maybe even reek of snake musk (which has happened from snake dens in basements), it really is something spectacular and the snakes are fortunate to be on someone's property who doesn't want them cut in half.
Guy comes here to our space to ask how to best preserve the creatures we love, and we were kinda pretentious and condescending.
I understand the passion, but seriously... was there any real confusion towards what kind of snake he was talking about? Was there any need to be less than friendly about it?
As I kid I realized it wasn't that people didn't like me for liking snakes and stuff, they didn't like me cuz I was a corrective little @$$hole. I regularly let my love for snakes and emotion override and I'd act like a dick, when really most of the time it didn't matter if they found a frog or a toad, garter snake or garden snake. They found it, thought it was cool, didn't step on it, and that is good enough for me. We can say "that's a toad, actually, note the differences..." once they appreciate it, not ruin their excitement off the bat. No one likes a know-it-all, anyway.
Once your passion overcomes your sensibility, you are feeding bad perceptions - not reversing them.
People don't go out of their way to ask us how to move a snake because we constantly correct them and tell them they're stupid for killing snakes. If we jumped out and corrected every single person who called a salamander a lizard, an amblypygid a spider, and every snake a copperhead we'd be village @$$hole and have NO friends who send us pics of the snakes/spiders they just safely released.
Guy was looking for help for his family, for snakes, and for us. He wants his family happy, the snakes happy, and that makes us happy. I think we were pretty off-putting. We were "that guy."
I bring this up because not only do I see it on the forum often, I do it myself all the time. Then I look back and say "great, just made another guy hate spiders."
We are lucky Matt even continued to read this thread... another guy mighta said "well F you, I'm gonna go get the shovel"
thank GOD he knows he was wrong and now knows the difference between Garter and Garden snake though, world of difference.
---------- Post added 07-11-2014 at 03:53 PM ----------
Matt, in addition to exploring options in minimizing numbers or moving snakes, I'd start with trying to give your family a positive experience. If you are comfortable or have a friend who is comfortable holding snakes, show them one. Show them the garter snakes you are finding are harmless, explain that they are often beneficial, and maybe explain the high numbers. They may never like snakes, but there is certainly a better chance they'll look at it in a different light and think twice before they want to kill it or run away.
For all you know you might be able to convince them that, though maybe creepy, they are only there so long and maybe they will live with them.
Good luck man and thanks for seeking our advice.
I'm assuming the rest of you who cannot possibly understand why a high density of snakes around the home might freak someone out must spare every single ant, roach, centipede, scorpion, widow, etc. that enters the home - right? They were here before us, just doing their thing.
---------- Post added 07-11-2014 at 06:16 PM ----------
OP: It might be useful, especially when interpreting people's suggestions/constructive criticisms, to know that relocation is a worse-case-scenario effort in many cases. It is far from ecologically friendly, but with urban expansion and human wildlife interactions increasing ecologists are faced with testing/exploring this option.
A good start would be to find a local reptile expert or herpetological society!
If the snakes are denning or breeding in your area, the spot has likely been there for a very, very long time. It's something special really. I know it might seem horrible to some, maybe even reek of snake musk (which has happened from snake dens in basements), it really is something spectacular and the snakes are fortunate to be on someone's property who doesn't want them cut in half.
Last edited:
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A little BTW that should be mentioned. Mothballs are so convenient! So easy to use and toss about the landscape. They don't smell bad. They get rid of all sorts of problem critters. And of course the best part is dichlorobenzene is a neurotoxin and causes cancer in pets and humans.
freedumbdclxvi
Arachnoprince
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I didn't realize going outside with a .22 constituted a non kill option.
I think he meant "well I'm not out shooting em, I'm here asking advice" I could see how it could interpret as a threat, but the original post was about moving snakes.
I share the sentiments and passion, but I feel as though the OP's motive at seeking advice for an ecologically friendly solution was ignored and instead he just kinda got a public lashing.
While great information was brought to the table, I felt it was a bit of a undeserved shamefest. Shoulda kept outta it, my apologies all.
I share the sentiments and passion, but I feel as though the OP's motive at seeking advice for an ecologically friendly solution was ignored and instead he just kinda got a public lashing.
While great information was brought to the table, I felt it was a bit of a undeserved shamefest. Shoulda kept outta it, my apologies all.
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No, your input is valued. A few people here however, have a short fuse. 2 types that merge. The ones that see their rights to own animals are slipping away and the ones that have encountered animal abuse in a zillion forms and the environment being deprived of our world heritage. Them thar be a couple of very touchy subjects.
Now, with that said, hold down the noise please while I go take a nap or I shall be forced to kill 10 kittens and tell god you did it.