How to Get a Non-Poisonous Snake in Our Back Yard

The garter snake's adaptibility make it a suitable choice for some backyards.

Snakes often receive a bad reputation for their menacing looks and assumption that most, if not all, can kill with a single venomous bite. On the contrary, snakes play an important role in small animal population control (i.e. rodents, birds and reptiles) and many are not venomous. Introduce a non-poisonous snake in your backyard to gain all the benefits this predator provides. Just make sure to conduct the proper research to ensure you choose the best snake for your property.

Things You'll Need

• Rocks
• Shovel
• Wooden box

Instructions

1. Conduct research regarding the most abundant non-poisonous snakes in your area. Common examples of abundant snakes that appear all over the U.S. include the garter snake and black snake. You must make sure your yard, the climate and the general environment can handle the snake you introduce to your property for a couple reasons. First, a snake not suited for the environment will likely die. Second, introducing a foreign species can disturb the local ecosystem through overeating other animal populations or crossbreeding with other snakes. As such, only introduce snakes indigenous to your area.

2. Inspect your property to ensure it contains enough food for the snake you decided on. For example, suppose you decide that the ribbon snake, a type of garter snake, can thrive in your area. These snakes feed on small rodents due to their small size. This means larger rodents such as gophers do not provide adequate food. Field mice, on the other hand, provide the perfect meal. Additionally, make sure you have an adequate food supply available. Do not introduce a snake simply for a few rats that you can eliminate with standard pest control.

3. Build a small habitat for your snake to live in on your property. This habitat, otherwise known as a den, must mimic the snake's natural habitat in the wild. For example, the ribbon snake enjoys tight crevices such as spaces between rocks and small holes in the ground. You can build such a habitat by stacking a several large rocks together or digging a small hole in the ground. The milksnake, on the other hand, seeks shelter in dry cool places. Duplicate this environment by securing a wooden box or other shelter-like structure on the branches of a tall tree.

4. Inspect your snake habitats and the local rodent population on a regular basis to ensure your introduced snake remains in good health and has plenty of food. If the snake does not respond well to your property or has completely eliminated the small animal problem on your property, you need to recapture the snake and release it in its proper environment where it can thrive.

References

• The Daily Puppy; Hibernation & Adaptations in Snakes; Chuck Robert
• The McWetlog: Releaseing Snakes as Rodent Control
• Grit; Snake Identification Key to Rodent Control; Caleb Regan