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Snake Repellant - Help Needed

Miss Whiplash

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May 9, 2006
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I was at Lowe's today to buy mulch. There was a huge display of Snake-Away snake repellent. The display trumpeted that it was "university tested." The ingredients were primarily naphthalene and sulfur.

Mothballs and sulfur are two old folk remedies to keep snakes out of the yard. The best I remember, both have been disproved. I've found the best snake repellent is to keep the grass cut and step lively until the next hard freeze.

Has anyone seen a study where this product is actually effective in repelling snakes? Twenty-five bucks is a bit much for a jug of moth flakes and sulfur and a dubious claim.
 
The best snake repellent, a pet mongoose.
Failing that, a cat. Preferably a "barn" cat that is a good mouser.
 
Snakes are beneficial animals... why God? why do you hate them so?

I suggest a very-short electrical fence... it also works on rodents and small children!
 
An ex girlfriend used to work in the reptile house at London Zoo. Apparently snakes hate neat alcohol (cue jokes about the brand they do prefer). If a snake bit and wouldn't let go then they'd use a couple of drops of alcohol in it's mouth to make it release it's bite.

I've no idea if it would work but perhaps on a bigger scale pouring a line around the yard perimiter may make them think twice - they taste with their toungues after all. I guess evaporation or local whino's licking the paving may make the effect short lived though...
 
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JonWhite said:
An ex girlfriend used to work in the reptile house at London Zoo. Apparently snakes hate neat alcohol (cue jokes about the brand they do prefer). If a snake bit and wouldn't let go then they'd use a couple of drops of alcohol in it's mouth to make it release it's bite.

I've no idea if it would work but perhaps on a bigger scale pouring a line around the yard perimiter may make them think twice - they taste with their toungues after all. I guess evaporation or local whino's licking the paving may make the effect short lived though...
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Are you insane man? No alcohol should ever be wasted in such manner!

My receipe for Whiskey Steak.

1-2 Steaks
1/2 cup of Whiskey (Jim Beam seems to work best)
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1/4 cup of woreschishashire sauce (yeah, you spell it!)
1 zip lock bag

In a zip lock bag, combine soy and wor sauces with steak, allow to marinate for 1/2 hour.

Drink whiskey (you didn't think I'd waste it on a marinade, did you?)

Side benefit... snakes won't bite you. ;)
 
The Vampire said:
I've found the best snake repellent is to keep the grass cut and step lively until the next hard freeze.
Click to expand...

When I lived in North Carolina, I sometimes saw snakes pop their heads up out of manicured lawns as I approached in my loud hoopdee. They looked so dumb I had to laugh! Really I love animals of all kinds, including snakes. I love to have them around but, as I'm no expert, I leave them alone if they do the same for me.
 
DangerousBeliefs said:
Are you insane man? No alcohol should ever be wasted in such manner!

My receipe for Whiskey Steak.

1-2 Steaks
1/2 cup of Whiskey (Jim Beam seems to work best)
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1/4 cup of woreschishashire sauce (yeah, you spell it!)
1 zip lock bag

In a zip lock bag, combine soy and wor sauces with steak, allow to marinate for 1/2 hour.

Drink whiskey (you didn't think I'd waste it on a marinade, did you?)

Side benefit... snakes won't bite you. ;)
Click to expand...

You bar steward.
Soapy (on a drilling rig with plenty steaks and no Whisky) Sam.
 
Snakes are generally scared poo-less by gigantic bipeds, so your best defense is simple awareness. Reptiles in general are either going to be out sunning, or in a batch of cover that conceals them. Be obvious when travelling in snake country; step firmly, kick up ground cover, never assume that a step over an object is safe if it is out of sight. Try to think like a snake, and you easily find that they are very stupid, and outwitting them requires only an active mind.
 
This might be a stupid thing to say, but on one episode of Dirty Jobs, they used moth balls to get snakes out from under a deck. Was this just chance that they came out after the moth balls, since it seems here that it doesn't work?
 
hopfen said:
THE EFFICACY OF NAPHTHALENE AND SULFUR REPELLENTS TO CAUSE AVOIDANCE BEHAVIOR IN THE PLAINS GARTER SNAKE
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/gpwdcwp/432/
Click to expand...

Who would want to repel a garter snake? They're perfectly harmless. In fact, I once rescued one:

I was at the computer and heard a rustling behind me. It took a while to locate the sound, but it was coming from a box of packaging supplies I had stored in a cardboard box underneath the window-mounted air conditioner. Turns out it was a garter snake; he must have somehow come in through the air conditioner, itself, and fallen into the box. There, he had managed to wrap himself/herself (how do you sex a snake?) around and through a tape gun, gluing himself into place on the tape, with a couple of lengths of his body across the blade. An hour later, Mrs Beady pulled into the drive, to find me still working the snake off the tape and out of the gun's wheel. Last I saw, the little bugger was scooting off through the grass.

Weird thing is, I'm really afraid of snakes.

803.jpg
 
Beady said:
Who would want to repel a garter snake? They're perfectly harmless. In fact, I once rescued one:

I was at the computer and heard a rustling behind me. It took a while to locate the sound, but it was coming from a box of packaging supplies I had stored in a cardboard box underneath the window-mounted air conditioner. Turns out it was a garter snake; he must have somehow come in through the air conditioner, itself, and fallen into the box. There, he had managed to wrap himself/herself (how do you sex a snake?) around and through a tape gun, gluing himself into place on the tape, with a couple of lengths of his body across the blade. An hour later, Mrs Beady pulled into the drive, to find me still working the snake off the tape and out of the gun's wheel. Last I saw, the little bugger was scooting off through the grass.

Weird thing is, I'm really afraid of snakes.

[qimg]http://www.packnmove.co.uk/assets/cms/products/803.jpg[/qimg]
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You sex a snake by probing it. (yes that is what it sounds like) (no I am not using a dirty meaning of "sex)

You stick a probe into the snake's cloaca and depending on the distance it will go in, you can tell if it is male or female.
 
Beady said:
Who would want to repel a garter snake?
Click to expand...

I believe they used garter snakes in the "university test" partly because it was one of the claims of the manufacturer, and partly because they're practically ubiquitous.

You're right; 99% of the time, snakes are our friends (especially for farmers), since they keep the rodent population down.

Smaller ones also make great playthings for my cats.
 
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