Living off-grid sometimes means you will have to deal with wild animals such as snakes.
You will be more exposed to these dangerous reptiles than if you live in urban areas or in a heavily settled place. That means you need to identify what attracts snakes and how to deal with them.
While some people keep snakes as pets, the act should be discouraged for safety reasons. Snakes can bite and inject venom into your body system.
This can paralyze you and cause death within minutes if appropriate medication is not administered on time.
Today, we will discuss all you need to know about keeping snakes at bay. All the things that attract them and how to safely deal with them when they invade your home are mentioned here. Keep reading for details.
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What Attracts Snakes? Are Snakes Dangerous?
Snakes will naturally slither into your home or backyard garden if the conditions are favorable. The first stage of dealing with snakes is not attracting them.
So, you should know what draws them to your home and remove them if possible.
Snakes will be attracted to your off-grid home or backyard garden if any of the following conditions are met:
- Presence of rodents such as rats and birds that are their food.
- Tall grasses and plants in your yard to act as their hideouts.
- Cool and damp places – conducive habitat.
- Throwing away cat and dog foods into your yard.
- Composting near or in your yard.
- Availability of water in the yard.
- Lack of barrier to your home.
There are over 3,000 species of snakes, however, less than 7% are deemed dangerous to humans. Black mambas and cobras are the most dangerous snakes on the planet.
Their venoms, which is injected into the body of their victims, can kill within minutes.
Some species of snakes, such as garter snakes, are harmless and can live in harmony with humans. However, for the general fear of snakes, you should try to keep them out of your home as much as you can.
In general, snakes will retaliate when provoked. They fight back by biting and injecting venom or spraying their saliva, which can blind you or cause serious skin problems.
This calls for ways of keeping snakes away from your home and handling them when they slither in.
5 Effective Ways To Avoid Snakes While Living Off-Grid
Snakes will always try to get into your home if they believe they can find food and a conducive hiding place. To keep them at bay, ensure the following:
Your Home Improvements
Improving your home and ensuring that everything you use is in perfect condition can help keep snakes away.
Untidiness, vents, and leaky hoses are the weaknesses in your home that will make snakes find their way in.
Carry out the following home improvements to reduce the chances of snakes sneaking into your off-grid home:
Keep The House Clean and Tidy
Snakes will naturally avoid a tidy and clean house because they fear being easily spotted. An untidy home will present a perfect hideout for snakes and consequently attract them.
Avoiding such will keep your home snake-free. But how do you tidy up your home?
Home cleaning requires a schedule and discipline. It is the small routine things you do that will make the difference. Here are some of the ways of keeping your house and yard clean and tidy:
- Make your bed every morning.
- Empty the dishwasher every morning.
- Clean up every time you cook.
- Do laundry every day if possible.
- Sort and recycle any paper or waste as soon as possible.
- Put things away after using them.
- Always leave a room with something on your hands.
- Create a cleaning routine.
- Clear bush or tall grasses around the house.
Try A Fence
A fence is a physical barrier that will prevent snakes from getting into your home.
There are specific types effective in this and that is what you should go for. Snake fences will protect your yard or garden every day of the week.
Snake fences are more effective compared to other deterrents. A wall fence is the best but can be unnecessarily expensive for off-grid living.
Try an aluminum or a galvanized wire mesh. Properly install the wire mesh snake fence on your yard for maximum efficiency.
Cover Vents and Drains With Galvanized Screening
Snakes are likely to slither into your yard through the open drains and vents. So, the first step in keeping them away is covering these places with galvanized screening.
Why galvanized screening? We need to understand this from the role that vents and drains perform.
Excess water leaves your home or house through the vents and drains. These are also for ventilation, and sealing them with any other material will compromise this and cause other problems.
A galvanized screening is the only effective method because it deters snakes while keeping the vents and drains functional.
These screens are also effective in rodent-proofing your home. Just cut the mesh to fit the vent pipe or drain and seal it there.
Fix Leaky Hoses, Keep The Yard Clean
Cleaning your yard is also another way of keeping snakes away. Clear the bush and cut down tall grasses to destroy possible hideouts.
By doing so, you also eliminate rats and other animals that snakes prey on. We all know that rats hide in bushy areas and are the most palatable meal for snakes.
Avoiding dampness in your home is also effective in controlling snakes. Damp areas attract frogs. With frogs, snakes are more than welcomed into your yard or home.
You can avoid dampness by having a perfect drainage system and fixing all leaky hoses. Seal or replace all compromised hoses.
Limit Snakes’ Hiding Places/Change Your Landscaping
Your landscaping approach can be the reason why your yard is infested with snakes without you knowing. Try as much as possible to limit the landscaping designs that are snake-friendly.
The following are what you should or should not do to keep snakes away from your off-grid home:
Trim Tall Grass, Trees, and Shrubs
Tall grasses, trees, and shrubs are the perfect hideouts for snakes. These are also the places where they like hunting for rodents and other prey.
Clearing shrubs and trimming tall grasses will make your yard tidy and expose snakes to their predators.
Snakes will try to avoid open places to escape their predators. They prefer hiding places where they can also successfully hunt for their prey. So, take the initiative to cut overgrown grasses, trees, and shrubs.
Limit Shrubs and Thick-growing Plants
As mentioned, shrubs and bushy plants will present a perfect hideout for snakes. Snakes like climbing trees and hiding on the top branches. They can also move towards the edges to bask in the sun or go deeper for shades.
The same shrubs and bushy trees are preferred by lizards, which are perfect prey for snakes. This will automatically attract them to your garden.
The solution is to limit the shrubs or thick-growing trees in your yard. But if you should have them, then try to trim or prune them. Cut the excess branches.
Remove Debris and Leaf Piles
Debris can take all forms. Avoid heaping wastes from your renovation or construction projects in your yard. After completing the project, collect all the debris and dump them in the designated places in your area.
Also, make a routine to remove leaves from your yard. Debris and leaves form a conducive habitat for rodents and snakes. Simply haul them away whenever possible to avoid snake infestations.
Store Firewood Away From Your Home
A stack of firewood will always have spaces in between. You cannot readily see them, but snakes, rodents, and other reptiles see it as the perfect place to hide and breed.
They will slither into these spaces and establish a colony without you knowing.
If you must have a pile of firewood, make sure it is not very close to your home. Also, you should be careful when removing a piece of firewood from the stack.
Snakes are dangerous and can attack you if you get too close to their habits or if you threaten to kill them.
Avoid Landscaping With Water Gardens and Koi Ponds
Snakes prefer living near small water bodies such as ponds. The reason for this is that they can cool their bodies in water in hot summers.
But above all, snakes will move to water gardens and Koi ponds to hunt for frogs.
Water features automatically become the focal point in your garden. But you should avoid them if you want to keep snakes away from your home.
Avoid Using Mulch and Large Rocks In Your Landscape
Mulch and large rocks will attract rodents, lizards, and other animals that snakes prey on. Apart from being the perfect habitat for snakes, mulch and rocks are the preferred hunting grounds.
With mulch in the garden, snakes can hunt and hide from predators, all at the same time.
Find alternatives to mulching or using rocks to fence your garden. We appreciate the importance of mulching, but if keeping your home snake-free is your priority, then avoiding it is the best decision.
Avoid Excessive Moisture
Excessive moisture provides the perfect environment for snakes. They like hanging around such places in hot weather to cool themselves. Also, snakes expect frogs to be in such damp areas. So, they will slither in for hunting.
Excessive moisture can be caused by poor drainage or leaking hoses. Fix all these to ensure your house and yard are always dry.
Limit Snakes’ Food Sources
Food attracts any living thing. Snakes also behave the same way as they move to new hunting grounds to catch prey and find easy food.
The following are some of the ways of avoiding snake infestation by limiting their food sources:
Limit Bird Feeding
Birds are messy eaters. They often spill their food on the ground when eating. If feeding your birds nuts and seeds without proper feeders, some will be dropped.
The first animals that will see this as a feeding opportunity are the rodents.
With rodents attracted to your home or yard, you can expect snakes to slither in. Snakes will prey on the rats and other rodents, which feed on the food that spills from the bird feeders.
Limiting bird feeding and storing bird seeds in a metal can with a tight-fitting lid can help keep snakes away.
Seal Away Animal Food
Snakes can feed on animal food as well. Also, they will come in to hunt rats that will, undoubtedly, invade your home to eat the animal food.
Animal food and leftovers should be stored in sealed containers to avoid attracting rodents and snakes.
Collect Your Chicken Eggs Regularly
Chicken eggs are palatable meals to snakes. They will come to the laying nests the moment they realize there are eggs in them.
To control this vice, collect your eggs as soon as they are laid or use snake barriers to secure the chicken coop.
Eliminate Animals That Attract Snakes: Mice/Insects
Snakes will be attracted to your home if it has mice, rats, insects, and other animals that they prey on. It is not easy to stop snakes from entering your yard or house if these animals exist.
Long grasses and shrubs will attract insects. Food leftovers and bird feeding will attract mice and rats.
Properly dispose of food wastes and trim tall grasses in your garden to eliminate animals that attract snakes. With nothing to hunt on, snakes will have no reason to come to your off-grid home.
Create Things That Snakes Hate
Snakes are not attracted to everything. There are some more effective ways of repelling snakes that you can have in place to keep them at bay. Try out one or more of the following ways to keep your home snake-free:
Make Some Noise
Snakes do not have ears. This means making noise is not effective in scaring them away because they will not hear it.
It is the vibration on the ground that actually scares snakes. So, you have to be very specific with the noise to make.
Snakes are fearful. This means it does not take much to scare them off. Stomp hard in the ground to create vibrations that snakes detect and slither away.
Grow Plants That Keep Snakes Away
Some plants can effectively repel snakes. Plant plants such as Marigolds, Mother-in-Law’s Tongue, West Indian Lemongrass, onion, and garlic in your garden or around your home. Snakes hate odor from such plants.
Use Essential Oils With Strong Scents
Some essential oils such as cinnamon, clove, and eugenol have strong scents that deter snakes. Sprinkle these essential oils around your yard or home to repel snakes because snakes hate the smell.
Smoke Them Out
Snakes have a strong sense of smell. Once they detect what they dislike, they will slither away. One such smell that will keep them away is smoke.
Create a fire pit in your yard and let it smoke for about three to five days to drive out any snakes from your yard.
Utilize Natural Products: Human Urine, Vinegar, and Lime
Snakes hate strong smells from human urine, vinegar, lime, and other substances.
Spray the chosen one around your garden to protect it from a snake infestation. If using urine, dedicate a sprayer or a labeled container for this purpose.
Cats & Dogs Can Catch Snakes
Cats and snakes are enemies. Once cats sense the presence of a snake in your home or yard, they will look for it and start fighting it. Even if it will not kill it, at least you will know that a snake has invaded your home.
Dogs, on the other hand, cannot fight snakes but can detect their presence. Dogs can also scare away snakes. So, keeping cats and dogs is a natural way of deterring snakes.
Some Substances Should Not Be Used
There are many snake repellents in the market to choose from. However, some people use unrecommended methods to deter snakes.
You should consider what is permitted by law and are not harmful to you and the environment.
Avoid fuel-related liquids to repel snakes. They are equally effective but have adverse effects on the environment. Apart from being fire hazards, they will kill plants and other living organisms. Avoid them at all costs.
5 Signs Of Snakes in Your Home
Despite the efforts of keeping snakes away from your home, they can still find their way in. How do you detect their presence without seeing them?
Snake Skin
Snakes shed their outer skins after some time. You can find these skins in different places around your home.
This is a sure indication of the presence of a snake in your home. Start a search as soon as the snake’s skin is detected. You can also spray repellent to scare it away.
Odor
Snakes do smell, and that is one of the ways of detecting their presence in your home. Some people describe snakes to have a cucumber-like and skunk-like smell, while others say snakes smell like decay.
This foul smell from snakes comes from two glands located at the base of their tails. When threatened, the liquid is released into the air as a means of defense from predators.
Snake Poop
Snakes excrete wastes that are discharged out of their bodies as a white substance, which is more liquid than solid.
The content of the snake’s poops varies depending on the last diet. You can see bones, hairs, scales, and other indigestible substances in the dropping.
The droppings can help you estimate the type of snake and their number in your home. Just study them keenly and take the necessary action.
Dynamic Unusual Noises
Snakes usually move while producing a hissing sound. It is possible to detect their motions in your house, but you can easily mistake them for rats and other rodents.
If you hear unusual dynamic noises in the house, find out what it is. You might be living with a snake!
The Mysterious Absence Of Rodents
Snakes prey on rats and mice. If you could see these rodents running across your yard and then suddenly disappeared, the predator might be around.
They are either eaten by the snakes or run off after detecting their presence. Investigate and take action.
How To Deal With A Snake In Your Home?
Spray
Use an appropriate repellent to spray your house or yard to scare away the snake.
Upon detecting the smell, the snake will slither away without causing any harm. This method is effective whether you can actually see the snake or not.
Move Pets/Animals Or Young Children Out From The Area
Dealing with a snake can sometimes mean confronting it, which might provoke the snake to fight back.
So, move your pets, children, and any vulnerable person to safety before embarking on the mission. Use the best approach to scare away snakes.
Calm Down and Don’t Provoke The Snake
Snakes do not usually fight back unless they feel threatened or provoked. Remain calm upon sighting the snake in your yard and use the best method in chasing it away.
Do not provoke it. You can call for experts to help you remove it from your home if you are scared.
Let The Snake Go Away By Itself
Forcing snakes to leave your yard can result in a deadly fight. The best way to deal with snakes is by letting them move away from your home by themselves.
To make it slither away even faster, spray essential oils, urine, or any other recommended repellent.
Later Setup A Snake Trap Or Contact A Service
You can set a trap to catch the snake. However, handling snakes is a deadly mission that requires experience. It is better to contact a professional service provider if you do not have the skills needed.
Conclusion
An off-grid living has its challenges, one of which is the snake infestation. Fortunately, you can use the information in this article to keep them off.
Snakes also do not just attack unprovoked. So, use the tips provided to detect the presence of snakes and scare them away from your home.
As always, thank you for stopping by to read this article on the Em Offgrid. We hope this information is useful, and we urge you to read other posts on off-grid survival ways.