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A lot of things can cause holes in the ground—moles, voles, cicadas, groundhogs, etc. I wouldn't necessarily connect snakes and holes in the ground.
^This.
I have more than my fair share of moles and voles. The voles leave small holes, about the size you'd expect a snake to make. If you see raised trails to and from these holes then you know you have other critters to deal with.
This reminds me, I need to search for vole threads. These little **stards are creating havoc around my shrubs. I need to <PETA edit) the little *&^%#$ ers.
Juicy fruit gum takes care of voles. Not sure why it has to be Juicy Fruit, but put sticks of it at the entrance of their holes and it'll take care of them. Cats are also great vole and snake deterrents.
The interesting thing about that kudzu bug is that in its native Japan it does not eat soybean plants. So it makes you wonder what it is about our soybean plants that make them more enticing than Japan's soybean plants. Ecology is a crazy bugger!
I don't want black racers on my property. They can be very aggressive. I caught one last year. He was on my driveway, and spooked, and went into the garage. By the time I caught him, and put him in a bucket, he had struck at me 30-40 times! I relocated him, but regretted not killing him, after doing so. That was the single meanest snake I have ever encountered in my life. Venomous or not, I don't want my kids stumbling across one!
The best way to keep snakes away, is to not provide them the things they like. Copperheads love brush piles, firewood stacks, and thick brush. Keep your property cleaned up. The more inviting habitat you have for mice and rats, the more snakes you'll have looking for meals. Stumps and logs, scrap wood lying around, etc are all inviting places for reptiles, amphibians, etc. Even bird feeders will attract a lot of rodents at night, and many snakes hunt at night.
Was doing patio work several years back and kept hearing what sounded like a buzz, or rattling like a rattle snake. After hearing it several times I got up to see what it was. Sure enough, a black racer and he was rattling away. Pushed him away with a stick and off he went. Kinda surprised me with the rattling and aggressive show but they don't bother me.
I had my light-bulb moment a few posts back: voles. I don't have mice or rats, but I have a whole lot of voles on my property.
I didn't even know what a vole was not too long ago. Looking them up online, the little suckers look just like mice. And sure enough what I read said snakes like to hunt them.
I am going to go get some Juicy Fruit. I agree with the whole eliminate the food source and the snakes will move on idea.
I grew up on a piece of land near Wake Med that was crawling with copperheads...still is. We must have killed over a 100 of them over the years. The problem got so bad a few years ago we called the NC Museum of Natural History and had one of the directors there come out and take a look around to see what was going on. Turns out that in the middle of this property there's a passage way where the copperheads pass through...just following the food chain. We also have found a den of copperheads under an old shed with a concrete floor in the woods which we sealed up. He told us there's not much that can be done about them other than being aware of when and where they will be out and around. Luckily no one in my family has been bitten yet, but the dogs haven't had it so good. My mother still lives there...86 years old and still killing those snakes
That's because they don't use the cutesy 'R.' It's snakesareus.com and the top link on their page happens to be Guide to a Snake Free Yard.
lol nice.
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