Snake in the Garden; Good or Bad? (bugs, grass, cats)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We found a small snake yesterday in our garden, we are first year farmers and would like to know if this is a good or bad thing? Anyone else have snakes in their garden? Is it best to just scoot it out or leave it be? Thanks for any info.
In general its probably neither good nor bad. Now if the snake decides to live there, it would seem to indicate either an insect problem or a rodent problem (if its a larger snake).
Depends on what type of snake it is and where you live.
It was maybe a foot long and looked a bit grey with brown marks evenly spaced along it's body. We live in Wisconsin, which we thought had no snakes, oddly enough this is the first snake I have seen in 20 years of being in and out of Wisconsin.
If I knew how to post a photo, I took one before it slithered away, I would. Anyone have instructions on photo upload to City-Data and I will submit it for your viewing. Thanks again.
S/He may have been just passing thru. I had garters in my garden, black racers, even chicken and rat snakes on occasion. They never bothered anyone. What really freaked me were the baby copperheads under the edging stones and wood edgers, and the occasional rattlesnake. I didn't mind the non-poisonous ones - some of the garters would actually curl around my fingers - but the poisonous ones had to GO. The bigger ones will leave a nasty bite sometimes too if they feel threatened or cornered or surprised, so always give plenty of warning as you come into the garden and give them an escape route. We did find a chicken snake digesting an egg once in the coop; how he did it I have NO idea. Mostly they keep out vermin though. I currently have a king snake in my garden that coils around the base of a tree when it's hot; they kill rattlers so he can stay.
Everyone I've talked to on forums around the country as well as locally is mentioning that there seems to be an increase in snakes this year... all types.
I load my photos into an album on Photobucket (it's free) and then when I tap on the yellow 'picture' square at the top of the 'reply' form and the "http:" form comes up, I put in the direct link to the pic on Photobucket.
It was maybe a foot long and looked a bit grey with brown marks evenly spaced along it's body. We live in Wisconsin, which we thought had no snakes, oddly enough this is the first snake I have seen in 20 years of being in and out of Wisconsin.
If I knew how to post a photo, I took one before it slithered away, I would. Anyone have instructions on photo upload to City-Data and I will submit it for your viewing. Thanks again.
Click on "my settings" at the top left of the page - on the left look under Networking then Pictures & Albums. Make a new album and upload direct to citydata.
You can also google snakes Wisconsin (click images) then see if you can find a picture of it
S/Everyone I've talked to on forums around the country as well as locally is mentioning that there seems to be an increase in snakes this year... all types.
Interesting point. I have seen more snakes in my part of the world this year than I have ever seen before in a quarter century. I was rather attributing it to a virus which attacked the mongoose population (their prime predators) a year or so ago. Many less mongooses and way more snakes.
The snakes here are harmless grass snakes and I must have rescued a couple of dozen already from the cats which bring them in and play with them. I thought I had enough on my plate but Snake-Saver has been added to the list!
Try eNature: America's Wildlife Resource. You can put in your zip code and what you are looking for - reptiles - snakes, and up comes all the snakes in your area. There are pictures and descriptions for you to id your visitor.
Personally, I like snakes. For the most part they eat the things I don't want in my garden. That being said, we do not have larger snakes that could take down any thing larger than a rat around here. So in my neck of the woods, all snakes are good and I'd encourage them to hang around.
I'd love to see a pic if you figure out how to post. I'm not so good at that myself. Usually takes me a few tries, and I'm never quite sure how I got it to work. LOL!
I load my photos into an album on Photobucket (it's free) and then when I tap on the yellow 'picture' square at the top of the 'reply' form and the "http:" form comes up, I put in the direct link to the pic on Photobucket.
I'm slightly computer-challenged so I had a wee bit of a learning curve to figure out how to use it initially, but it's very easy, and I use photobucket all the time.
As for snakes, they're not my favorite creatures, but I welcome certain species since they do take care of some of the unwanted bugs and such that I have. The snakes go their way and I go mine. As for your snake, all depends on what it is whether it's labeled "good" or "bad".
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Not snake knowledgable
