Best way to make your yard more appealing to snakes?

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James1617
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Best way to make your yard more appealing to snakes?

Post by James1617 »

Just looking for some tips on how I can make my yard a better place to find snakes and other herps. I didn't see that many snakes near my house last Summer. I would say some tin and some wood piles would help but what do you have in mind? I believe this is the total count of snakes found within 30 yards of my house.

3 Worm snakes
1 Rough Earth snake
1 Dekay snake


I got lucky with the green snake.. It was early morning and I just happened to walk up to it as it was crossing our dirt road.

Thanks in advance to anyone that comments with useful information.
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chris_mcmartin
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Re: Best way to make your yard more appealing to snakes?

Post by chris_mcmartin »

Quit mowing, provide cover items, spread birdseed and other rodent attractants. Water source might also be useful. If you are in a homeowner's association, forget everything I just said.

So we don't have to deduce by cross-plotting the ranges of the three snakes you mention, where do you live?
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Joshua Jones
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Re: Best way to make your yard more appealing to snakes?

Post by Joshua Jones »

Depends on where you live and what you're looking to attract.

-You could build a section of rock wall, creating gaps between the rocks that are appropriately sized for the species you'd like to see more of.

-Water features with minnows, goldfish, or native (and locally sourced) frogs couldn't hurt.

-If you're after crotalids (which may not be advisable if you have kids or live in a residential area) you can add some crote boxes to your boards lines. Just dig a 2' x 2' hole that's deep enough to be shored up on three sides using 2 x 4s or 2 x 6s, place some plywood over the top, and you're good to go.

-You could also try an artificial hibernaculum. Dig a 5' x 5' x 5' deep hole and fill it with large, dark, loosely fitting rocks until you have a decent mound that rises above the surrounding ground level. 4' x 4' x 4' would probably also work, but bigger (and deeper) is probably better. This idea would likely work well in conjunction with a rock wall like the one that I described above.

If I had the space and the habitat, I'd very likely employ all four of these methods. :lol:

Let us know what you decide to do and how it works out for you. :thumb:
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Joshua Jones
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Re: Best way to make your yard more appealing to snakes?

Post by Joshua Jones »

Sorry, I just saw Chris's reply. :lol:

I think he's got a good point about the bird seed, there. :thumb:
James1617
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Re: Best way to make your yard more appealing to snakes?

Post by James1617 »

Well I live in Southeastern Ky.. I would like to see pretty much any kind of snake. In the woods near my house I have seen a Racer, Rat, and a Hognose. Those are the only big snakes I would probably see.
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dery
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Re: Best way to make your yard more appealing to snakes?

Post by dery »

Too bad I'm renting, I can't even have a garden w/ rr tie lining. That turned out great w/ the old beat up shed down the street closer to the floodplain at my old house in middleschool. I found rats, garters, and ribbons, not to mention flipping numerous amphibians and a hatchling boxie.
Coluber Constrictor
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Re: Best way to make your yard more appealing to snakes?

Post by Coluber Constrictor »

One thing to remember is to never ever under any circumstances hire any professional yard people, they will kill the snakes.
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dery
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Re: Best way to make your yard more appealing to snakes?

Post by dery »

Like James said, do it yourself. And keep the grass sortof low so you don't mow or weedwack the snakes, That's what my aunt did before she rented us the middleschool house down the street. Keep the fenceline/edge of yard overgrown.
James1617
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Re: Best way to make your yard more appealing to snakes?

Post by James1617 »

Wow I just noticed I put Rough Earth snake on that list of snakes.. It was actually a Rough Green snake.. Anyways I am thinking about installing a small pond to the edge of the yard right before the woods start.. Then maybe putting something over half of it for shade and then some rocks.
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cbernz
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Re: Best way to make your yard more appealing to snakes?

Post by cbernz »

I dug a vernal pond in my yard at the edge of woods a year and a half ago. If you have a high water table like I do, it's basically just a matter of getting out your shovel and digging. If you don't, it can still be done without too much trouble. Check out this document - http://www.fs.fed.us/outdoors/naturewat ... -Ponds.pdf Fish-free vernal ponds are lower maintenance than permanent ponds, and are more attractive to amphibians (which in turn attract snakes and other wildlife).
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Mark Brown
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Re: Best way to make your yard more appealing to snakes?

Post by Mark Brown »

Coluber Constrictor wrote:One thing to remember is to never ever under any circumstances hire any professional yard people, they will kill the snakes.
And don't use commercial fertilizers, either. I used Scott's on my yard for a few years and watched my local Bufo population drop to zero. Last year I weaned the yard from Scott's and immediately began seeing toads again. In fact, I just found a big one in the garage this morning (it's raining heavily).

I've got a huge backyard (for being in a subdivision) and I've stacked the wood from a couple trees I've had to trim/remove, and I see lizards on the woodpiles. Found a three-foot Tx Rat in one of the piles a few years ago and there was a Rough Green living in one last year. I've got a couple of big fig trees back there and I can almost always find Rough Greens in them, if I'm patient enough to stand there and look for a while. I've put a few boards out near the woodpiles and when we weren't in a drought, I used to see loads of Rough Earths under them. They've pretty much disappeared in the last couple years.

I'd really like to put in a pond and xeriscape the backyard - I'm sure that would help and it would greatly cut down on maintenance (the BIG downside of a large yard).
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walk-about
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Re: Best way to make your yard more appealing to snakes?

Post by walk-about »

Mark,

That is a great point about those wood piles. In my backyard, I started stacking cut branches a few years ago, and positioned them along the back periphery of my property. I have stacks some four feet high and running the length of the property maybe 60 feet. It has really provided great habitat for prairie kingsnakes & of course e. garters. Oddly enough gray treefrogs & chorus frogs during the wet season. But the best enjoyment it has brought is 'birding' habitat, and native wildflowers between the branch piles and fieldgrass. Good luck James.
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Steve Atkins
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Re: Best way to make your yard more appealing to snakes?

Post by Steve Atkins »

Get some chickens, you will have rat snakes soon after
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Mark Brown
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Re: Best way to make your yard more appealing to snakes?

Post by Mark Brown »

I had kind of a funny experience with those wood piles. I put the first one out right after I moved in the house, about 15 years ago, starting it on a pile of sawdust that I'd dumped out there after a project. After a year or two of not seeing anything in or around the wood pile, I decided that it must be in the wrong location back there, so I moved the whole thing, piece by piece, to the opposite corner of the yard. I was down to the very last couple of pieces when, to my utter astonishment, a head poked up from the sawdust and looked around. It was a 3-ft Texas Rat, and I don't know who was more surprised. I picked him up and moved him over to the relocated pile, and of course, I've never seen him again. Or any other lindheimeri, for that matter. I'm sure they're all around, though - they're one species that seems to have a great tolerance for human activity.
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DaveR
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Re: Best way to make your yard more appealing to snakes?

Post by DaveR »

Make your yard look like they are going to film an episode of COPS on your property.
LMAO...but sadly...often true.

Seriously...when scouting potential herping spots while driving through unfamiliar territory, how many of us look for old decrepit buildings and rusted old appliances, etc? Untouched, pristine, natural habitat is too challenging for the average herper. Who doesn't get an adrenaline rush when you spot a nice, large, flat piece of roofing tin lying next to a collapsed barn?
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