What's the best way to get rid of snakes?

Question

We have an older farmhouse, basement is faced off with cement. Snakes still get in the basement and occasionally into the first floor. Very annoying, especially for my wife.
We are surrounded by farmland and orchard, and have used SnakeStopper in the past with a fair degree of success, but our goal is to eliminate them especially from the house. Any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Try lime. From what I know it burns them . Lime your whole yard if need be. lime near the foundation of your house also. When I lived on a cattle farm in Virginia that is how we kept the snakes under control.
Ed.S.

Answer 2

Get a pet that hunts snakes...a mongoose is a natural enemy for snakes...a good cat or dog that hunts small animals might help too. Mothball's scattered around your basement....my Grandmother used to swear by burning a snake on her property near her house once a year to keep other snakes away...I don't know if that last one is anything more than an old wives tale but when it comes to getting rid of something like snakes you might consider all options lol. good luck!

Answer 3

You might not believe this but we was havin snake problems a couple years ago it was bad there was a lot of copperheads and 2 rattlesnakes we never really was worried bout it but I wanted some goats and he bought me some I never paid attention till last year I looked and one of my goats was acting funny I went to look and see what it was doin the goat had killed one of the snakes and was stumping all over it I told my husband and bout a week later he caught one the other goats doin it you live in an open area goat would be perfect for you and all goats will kill snakes I haven't seen a snake in bout a year now plus they keep the weeds and briars down

Answer 4

Mothballs, my mom is a nut when it comes to snakes.

I for one hand don't care, what we do is simple, get a .22, and have tons of bird-shots(bullets) handy and when you see one, bang bang! But if its a black snake, let it go, they eat mice and rats.

I'd like to add, look around for those tiny cracks in your house, by doors and such. I had one baby snake come in, right by the sliding door by our walk-out, I got a bar stool and beat the piss outa it. The house is settleing so more openings are showing. Use spray foam that expands into the areas, then cut away the excess and if you want, paint it.

Answer 5

I've heard that putting a coarse rope around the perimeter of where you want to keep them out of is supposed to work. They won't slither over the rope because it scratches their underside and they don't like the feeling. Make sure to buy the roughest kind you can find. Also, keep the grass around your house cut short. Snakes prefer long grass to hide in. I hope this helps!

Answer 6

snakes are Territorial, they keep coming back to the berth place. I would by a couple rat terriers and a couple big tom cats, and don't feed them. They will take care of the snakes.

Answer 7

we use cats on our farm to keep away the snakes.also they use to have this stuff called snake away,but i dont know if they still have it.cats are pretty good about keeping the run off,because they kill the mice that the snakes are hunting for!plus the are always medaling around looking in all of the same places that snakes usually hide,looking for mice.our cats have been keeping them ran off for years!

Answer 8

In addition to the other suggestions, I used to take a shovel and walk around a pond where I knew there were mocassins: There were little kids in the area, and not all of them were exactly all there. If I came across a snake, I chopped its head off. Sheer satisfaction!

Answer 9

They are not magically appearing in the house. They are coming in from somewhere. Do a very careful look at the foundation, doorways, basement windows on or below grade, etc. and close the entranceways.

Answer 10

moth balls.they can't stand the smell.