garter snakes

[ms kitty]

How do you get rid of garter snakes? I have them living in the planter directly below my living room window. Today, I opened the front door and one had shed it's skin about an inch from my front door. I rarely open that door because I'm afraid one of them will get in the house. I put moth balls, cayenne pepper both out there and neither one phased them a bit. I tried to whack one today, but missed. The move so fast. I'm at my wits end. Any helpful tips? Thanks, Ms Kitty

[Chris_W]

There are some commercial snake repellents out there you could order, but I found this article rather interesting:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/tn_w ... llent.html

It mentions cinnamon or clove oil work as repellents. The only other thing I could think of is to empty that planter or more it (if you can), or relocate the snakes far away. Personally I wouldn't kill them - they are too valuable for eating mice and voles and insects that are sometimes more troublesome than the snakes.

Hope that helps a little.

Chris

[govgirl75]

We had the same problem with tons of garter snakes in our yard, always surprising us, but the worst of it was, we would accidentally hit them with the lawn mower. We relocated them to a field about a quarter mile away and had no problem after that. A neighbor had one that would sun himself on top of her bushes right by her front door. They also relocated him and had no further problems.
Glo

[ms kitty]

Thanks, but I can't move either the snakes or the planter. I won't get that close to the snakes. I'm just afraid one of them will get in my house. I might try the oils, though. Ms Kitty

[govgirl75]

School is in session. Maybe a middle school boy or girl would like to "borrow" the snake for science class and then let it go in a field. They need to do that fairly soon because garters hibernate, so they need to be released while it is still warm to find sleeping quarters. I have a common corn snake and I never have a problem getting rid of her shed skin. The kids are always wanting to take it to school with them for science class or scare their parents.
Glo