Garden snakes

[Lacey]

Snakes are my least favorite animal and I pray I never ever see one in my garden. I know that they do a lot of good by killing mice and things but that is what I have cats for and my chickens actually do keep the snake population down around my property. We flood irrigate so it is pretty common to have some come down in the ditch.

 

[thomas pendrake]

We have plenty of snakes here in Florida. There are many types of harmless (to people) snakes, but we have 3 varieties of rattlers, copperheads, cotton-mouths, and coral snakes. We also have scarlet king snakes, which look like coral snakes. After being really frightened, you can tell the difference between the coral snake (which is one of the most deadly varieties of snake ) and the king snake by the order of the color rings, or by looking at the belly of the snake. Red on yellow, kill a fellow. Red on black, kind to Jack. The king snake has a white belly (the rings don't go all the way around). You don't want to pick up a coral snake to check it's belly. They are both beautiful snakes. A coral snake bite can kill in less than 15 minutes. We also have ring neck snakes, lovely little black snakes with bright red rings around their necks and a sweet temperament. They are 6 to 12 inches long and really quite pretty. They actually have a weak venom, but are harmless to people. They basically can't bite people, and don't try.

 

[firelily99]

I have garter snakes and because of it I don't have any problems with mice, moles, etc. They are benign and generally keep to themselves. If they keep other pests away then I am all for their presence in my gardens. Same thing with opossums, the eat insects and rodents and any garbage that might be laying around.

 

[jlynn71]

I have only seen one snake in my yard. It was about 6 inches long and tried to be ambitious and bite my toe. I know it's silly, but it really freaked me out at the time, I had to talk myself into going back out into my yard for a few minutes.
I visited someone once in Florida, and was amazed to see lizards all over the place out by the pool. It was pretty common there, but I find reptiles a bit gross and was just horrified to see it bothered no one but me.

 

[Cheesy Potatoes]

I have never experienced seeing snakes in my yard, but the trick is to clean up your yard. Don't leave anything in piles laying around because snakes love hiding in them. Also check thickets and tall grass because snakes can hide there, too. They also frequent places where they can get food like poultry farms, so if you keep chickens or birds, you might see them nearby. Also, they usually appear if there is a rodent infestation somewhere.

Most of the time, though, they are just looking for a good place to hide and keep warm.

 

[gata montes]

Although I regularly encounter snakes in my garden and especially so during the summer months - they are rarely a problem as they generally just slither away - that is so long as you don't move too swiftly or antagonism them but as we have such a wide variety of snakes here including whip snakes as well as many types of viper and particularly the asp or black viper - its always best to to be extremely cautious when gardening in areas that they frequent - as you really don't want to alarm them because that is when they really could be a problem - especially as they can be pretty scary when they get angry - as you can see from my encounter with this rather large whip snake which I discovered when raking leaves who as you can see really didn't like having its photo taken

 

[thomas pendrake]

I have only seen one snake in my yard. It was about 6 inches long and tried to be ambitious and bite my toe. I know it's silly, but it really freaked me out at the time, I had to talk myself into going back out into my yard for a few minutes.
I visited someone once in Florida, and was amazed to see lizards all over the place out by the pool. It was pretty common there, but I find reptiles a bit gross and was just horrified to see it bothered no one but me.

Many lizards make nice pets.Some snakes are also good pets. Be sure that you know how to care for one if you decide to keep one as a pet. If you see a snake in your yard, it is a good idea to know what kind it is. Some small snakes are rather toxic, some are snakes you really want to have in your garden. They don't eat vegetables, but they do eat critters that eat your veggies.

 

[thomas pendrake]

Although I regularly encounter snakes in my garden and especially so during the summer months - they are rarely a problem as they generally just slither away - that is so long as you don't move too swiftly or antagonism them but as we have such a wide variety of snakes here including whip snakes as well as many types of viper and particularly the asp or black viper - its always best to to be extremely cautious when gardening in areas that they frequent - as you really don't want to alarm them because that is when they really could be a problem - especially as they can be pretty scary when they get angry - as you can see from my encounter with this rather large whip snake which I discovered when raking leaves who as you can see really didn't like having its photo taken

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It was probably quite frightened of you.

 

[gata montes]

It was probably quite frightened of you.

They normally are and this one was - which is why it was hissing and spitting - while I was photographing it

 

[Cheesy Potatoes]

You must have scared it. I'm glad that you didn't get bitten. It's nice that you are familiar with the kinds of snakes you see in your place, so that when you get bitten, the doctors will know what anti-venom to give you. The snake in the pictures look like it's trying to scare you away or attack you. Snakes tend to hide underneath things that is why it's very important to keep your yard as neat as possible.

 

[thomas pendrake]

You must have scared it. I'm glad that you didn't get bitten. It's nice that you are familiar with the kinds of snakes you see in your place, so that when you get bitten, the doctors will know what anti-venom to give you. The snake in the pictures look like it's trying to scare you away or attack you. Snakes tend to hide underneath things that is why it's very important to keep your yard as neat as possible.

I think the whip snake would probably suffer more damage from the bite than a person would. Many snakes can injure theirselves when biting people.

 

[gata montes]

You must have scared it. I'm glad that you didn't get bitten. It's nice that you are familiar with the kinds of snakes you see in your place, so that when you get bitten, the doctors will know what anti-venom to give you. The snake in the pictures look like it's trying to scare you away or attack you. Snakes tend to hide underneath things that is why it's very important to keep your yard as neat as possible.

I very definitely surprised it - shocked me a bit too - especially as they generally just slither away at speed - but fortunately I wasn't likely to get bitten by it - as being a constrictor - it was more likely to squeeze me to death rather than bite me but seriously - yes you're right as I see them so regularly I've kinda got used to seeing them around - as well as know what kind they are and apart from the one in the photograph they generally don't bother me - but am not so sure about your theory of keeping the yard tidy as being a way to keep them away - as it doesn't seem to matter how neat and tidy I keep mine - as they live in the rocky landscape that surrounds me - they visit whenever they like

 

[ACSAPA]

I saw 8 iguanas yesterday, ranging from a small green one to a very old and wrinkled huge one the size of a cat. I wonder what's making all the iguanas come out of hiding all of a sudden.

 

[Cheesy Potatoes]

I very definitely surprised it - shocked me a bit too - especially as they generally just slither away at speed - but fortunately I wasn't likely to get bitten by it - as being a constrictor - it was more likely to squeeze me to death rather than bite me but seriously - yes you're right as I see them so regularly I've kinda got used to seeing them around - as well as know what kind they are and apart from the one in the photograph they generally don't bother me - but am not so sure about your theory of keeping the yard tidy as being a way to keep them away - as it doesn't seem to matter how neat and tidy I keep mine - as they live in the rocky landscape that surrounds me - they visit whenever they like

Oh yeah. I didn't notice the shape of the head. It's different from the one vipers have. It's the rounded shape of constrictors. It also has "puppy eyes".

It's actually a tip from one of our professors in our department. There are many snakes where she lives and she says snakes love hiding in piles or wood, scrap metal, leaves, etc, but from what you're telling me, snakes must wander into your yard unknowingly in search for food. Do you keep chickens or have a lot of rodents in your area?

 

[gata montes]

Oh yeah. I didn't notice the shape of the head. It's different from the one vipers have. It's the rounded shape of constrictors. It also has "puppy eyes".

It's actually a tip from one of our professors in our department. There are many snakes where she lives and she says snakes love hiding in piles or wood, scrap metal, leaves, etc, but from what you're telling me, snakes must wander into your yard unknowingly in search for food. Do you keep chickens or have a lot of rodents in your area?

To be honest - as it was rather angry I didn't really get much time to notice its eyes at the time of taking the photograph - but now that you mention it - think you are probably right - it does have what could be described as " puppy eyes "

Until you mentioned chickens - I'd always assumed the reason why I see a lot of snakes was because - I live in a fairly remote mountainous area with rocky stony ground - which here is thought to be their natural habitat - however although I don't keep chickens myself or have a major rodent problem - some of my neighbors - who although some considerable distance away from me - do keep chickens and other wildlife - but saying that I don't just get snakes visiting my garden but every other kind of reptile too.