Anybody know of any such thing? We get garter snakes in our basement bad and my wife has a bad phobia of snakes, last summer she used moth balls around the basement walls (outside) which worked but really made the basement stink. They come in under the siding I'm pretty sure but it seemed to keep them away, we want to do some landscaping this spring just wondering if any of you have any ideas on something that might repel rather than attract them, really just need to put new siding on but that won't happen until next year, gotta do a roof first, fun fun.
Hello Pat; I don't know if it really works or not (haven't tried it myself) but I've heard that if you put down a strip of powdered or pelletized lime that snakes won't cross it!
We had copper heads real bad when we first moved here, so bad they once got on the dozer, Dow hollared, dip dripping down his chin, sorta finished but did not return for many years, his son did, he said to hunt them down and eraticate them bout the only way he knows, we did discover a mess of them, have not seen a one since saving all the king snakes we can, still don't help your wife's phobia, had to kill a hog nose bout year ago at the basement door, that was a scream to remember!
Thanks Chuck, anything is worth a try and we have plenty of that around here. drobertson, if you want a scream to remember come show one to my wife :D, on second thought that may not be such a good idea! I've never seen any poisonous snakes around here but you don't have to go too far to find them. They don't bother me so much but can't say I like the thought of them in my house or crawling across me in bed some night, I'll try the lime and report back, I know it smells better than moth balls!
Pick up a Garter snake. Don't try to restrict it's movements. Let it crawl around and move your hand to to keep it in your hands. Sometimes they can leave a stink but they won't hurt you at all. Show your wife how gentle and pretty they are. Maybe she will get over her phobia.
I introduced my kids to snakes this way when they were 5 or 6 years old. They grew up with no fear of snakes. We used to hike a lot in the woods. When we would come across a rattle snake, we would look in awe and then pick a path around it. Nobody would freak out.
$100.00 of spray foam should fix your basement problem...
No repellant needed for our yard.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/IMG_2149.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1489883156)
This guy laid in the sun most of today soaking up some rays. As long as I have it, I will not be concerned about any others. :)
Kbeitz, the basement walls are very sound and solid, I know they can get through little to no hole what so ever though. I truly think they come in above the foundation under the siding, it's the old partical board type and pretty loose around the bottom (the foam may work there) just got some other issues to fix before we can afford the siding, but any pipes going in or out already have it around them to fill in any excess space, thanks.
Lynn, if my wife saw that in our yard she'd burn the place to the ground, get the payloader and push it in the hole it left :D, I ain't joking either! I really don't mind them outside but she just wanted rock in front of the house thinking they wouldn't like it, I think it'd be like a nice spot to sun for them.
I have never seen anything other than King, Garter, and Corn (chicken) Snakes here at home. Now at the Cabin, there is no limit and everything goes. :-\
Over the years I have seen eastern diamondback rattlesnakes, ground rattlers, coral snakes, cotton mouths, hundreds of black snakes, banded water snakes, ring necks, mud snakes, red and yellow rat snakes, garter snakes, grass snakes, hog nose snakes and probably others in our yard.
My wife is afraid of all of them. If y'all discover an effective anti snake spray you could probably name your price and she would buy it.
I sell some Snake B Gon at work. I can't remember the name brand Bonide,Ortho.
I have the best snake repellent you can get ill give it to you all SNOW just come and get it :D :D 8) 8) other than that I have nothin :) :)
I just found a sad looking grass snake today while mowing some over grown area. The poor snake was so cold he could barely muster the strength to roll over onto his belly. After spending about 30 minutes in the sun he had the energy to move back to the bottom of the wood pile.
Quote from: thecfarm on March 19, 2017, 05:20:40 PM
I sell some Snake B Gon at work. I can't remember the name brand Bonide,Ortho.
does it come 25 or 50 to a box
coxy,It might,we are a small store,I only sell a couple a year. No bad snakes around here,so not much call for it. I can order 1-2-3-4 at a time.
My wife is that way with mice. Cat came up to her once with a mouse in it's mouth. Was not a good scene. I am glad I was there.
25-50 to a box as in Winchester or Remington :)
That went over my head. :-[ ;D
My little 410 shot gun works good :)
goose63 got it 22 or shot gun shells :) :) :)
We had copperheads here when we moved in 27 years ago. Once we got the multi-flora roses and other brush cleared they disappeared. We do still have harmless water snakes along the creek who occasionally get in my minnow traps as only harm they do. I release them unharmed if I can. We have a few garter snakes and ring necks but nothing harmful. I wish I had the Magic Man's black snake in my barn to clear out the mice.
I don't kill any of them now unless they are a threat to kids or animals around someone's yard. I even let an olive colored snake go in Ethiopia when on vacation after stopping if for my wife to take pictures as was not near any villages or such. We looked it up when we got internet. Turns out it was a young (5') black mamba. Grown is a little over 8' and big is over 14'.
I agree, just don't want them in my house, this time of year on warm days they'll sun themselves on our gravel roads, I used to catch every bull snake I could find and take them to the farm to put in rat holes. Now dad has enough cats (and no more hogs) you don't see rats or mice anymore. I also was told to put a few minnow traps around the walls, I guess it works good.
Ray I'll look into that, we have good friends that own our little hardware store I'll ask about it.
If I remember right, that snake repellant is nothing more then chipped up mothballs anyway, just a stink that burns there "nose".
A Black Mamba! That's a bad one. I remember a book I read one time about a Black Mamba. I believe it was loose in NYC's Central Park.
I think I read that or a similar story but I thought it was an Australian Tai-Pan. I read later a black mamba is the world's fastest snake and one of the most aggressive biting multiple time. One will crawl in a hut at night hunting mice and someone rolls over on it and it goes crazy and bites and kills everyone. A grown one can even kill an elephant. Fortunately this one never got aggressive. I'd put a bushy stick in front to slow him down or make him turn but he never felt threatened. Here is his picture from my wife's website.
OFFSITE PHOTOS NOT ALLOWED PHOTOS MUST BE IN FORESTRY FORUM GALLERY
About 2 weeks later we were up on Lake Tana (Headwaters to the Blue Nile) in the north part of the country and locals kept telling us about the pythons there so on our last day a kid came up telling us the python was back. By the time we got there they had chased him into the papyrus rushes and we finally spotted part of him and at last his tail. I grabbed it hoping to pull him out for a picture and the crowd scattered but he was too strong and got free. I don't know if he was 10, 20 or 30 feet long.
The biggest snake I can verify we encountered was this green anaconda in Ecuador December 2008. It looked to be about 20' long. It was near a Shaman's village and looked to about 20' long. I was holding the grass back while my wife took this picture from about 3' away.
PHOTOS MUST BE IN FORESTRY FORUM GALLERY Our guide wanted us to catch and relocate it on our return trip because the villagers had killed one the year before and we were up for the action and pictures but we could not find her on our return.
You obviously have an extraordinary wife. It makes me think of a time when I was installing a vac kiln in Australia. The building had no walls and was surrounded with woods. You could hear the kookaburras and see kangaroos in clearings. Patti was with me and was thinking that the woods looked pretty inviting. She was wearing shorts and sandals. She asked the local guys if it would be OK to go for a walk. They looked at her like she was nuts and said definitely not. Heck in Australia, they have spiders that will attack you.
I have heard cedar chips/mulch may work.
I hear tell that hogs are purity good at cleaning out snakes and then there is always the old Remington 870 sanitizing the area with lead (oops steel) shot ;D
Al
Just get some guineas...
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/39553/guineas_and_a_snake.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1490076429)
Now that's a flock of guineas. And then some. I had 6 here at one time when we had the greenhouse business. Had more than one customer ask how I could put up with that noise. Tried to tell them guineas are just like a good watch dog,when someone is around,they will let me know. Guineas will even tell me when a hawk is around,dog will miss them. They was just a squawking one day,could not see why,than I saw the hawk up in the tree.
What's with those couple chickens muscling in for a better look at the snake?
Down here, I see a lot of a plant that slips my mind on the name. Big leaf that contain serin. was told it repelled snakes. I will remember after I log out.
As I mentioned someplace else at this forum, I recently bought an 8mm movie projector and a screen so that we can watch old movies. The other night we turned one on and my son, Garrett, was about 2 years old. (He's now 38!) I was teaching him how to handle a snake. He was fascinated and had no fear of holding the little Garter Snake. Of course, he grew up with no fear. Same with our daughter, Jessica, You scaredy-cats should try it! :D
The King Snake that I pictured in the Spring Coming? (https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,94561.msg1468410.html#msg1468410) topic was back this morning sunning. I now know where it goes to hide. Well one of the spots anyway.
Quote from: timberking on March 23, 2017, 10:24:31 AM
Down here, I see a lot of a plant that slips my mind on the name. Big leaf that contain serin. was told it repelled snakes. I will remember after I log out.
Are you thinking of the caster bean plant, oil was also used for 2 cycle engines, Motor oil, as a laxative, mole/vole repellant and a few other things.
Yes , caster bean. Not sarin but still some bad stuff.
Caster beans contain ricin so they are toxic but I don't think they pose any risk. In AZ, they are often used as ornamentals.
I knew castor plants were used as mole repellent but never heard of it used as a snake repellent. My grandfather used them to kill/chase off moles and planted some every year. When I worked in Cameroon in western Africa I found plenty of castor plants growing there. I assume it is one of the plants brought over from there.