REMIND me why I should be happy to see a snake?

A few days ago, in the cold, I found a snake in my flower bed. He/she was up close to the foundation of the mobile home and did not move the whole time I was outside. I felt sorry for the poor thing AND I left it alone.

NOW it seems that he/she has taken up residence in a different flower bed that I am very active around. I liked it better when it was STILL. Now I work and I catch movement out the side of my eye. Darn it, I was much happier when I could ignore it and forget I ever saw one! I think it thinks it is hidden under my petunias. I'm trying to remember that the snake is "good for my garden" and leave it alone. It is a harmless variety but I still don't like sharing my flower garden with it.

Tell me AGAIN why I should think it's a good idea to let it remain in my flower beds (startling me every time I catch a glimpse of it)!!! Convince me that it should be allowed to remain... or it might get "disinvited"!!!

Non-venomous snakes are the best rodenticied there is. If you have voles they are worth thier weight in gold.

Ok, so far I am NOT convinced. We do not have a vole problem here... keep trying! I WANT to be convinced!!

Maybe that's why you don't have a vole problem!

We had a problem with ground squirrels. We don't have a problem anymore every since a garter snake moved into their den under the patio. I don't think a garter would eat a ground squirrel, but the snake's presence sure drove them off.

I'm with claypa on this one. :-)

Maybe you're right. Somehow I have not seen or heard of my gopher problems in this area either. I am NEW to this part of the country so I'm open to the possibility that this little snake is "the reason".

I had a vole problem in one of my garden beds. My DH, who is adverse to snakes, ( ssshh, don't tell him!) wanted to pour SNAKE AWAY down a vole hole to run the black snake away! I insisted that he leave the black snake to do a snake's job!! Soooo....2 months later, no vole problem! The small black snake in the garden is now a healthy fat snake who slithers away when I walk, no when I stomp towards that garden bed. The bunny population has significantly decreased as well, which is no love lost!! LOL! HOWEVER, I do give DH permission to use SNAKE AWAY near the pumpkins play area! The neighborhood could not survive the bloodcurdling screams of girly pumpkins seeing a snake!!

King snakes eat other snakes ~ is that an o.k. reason? : )

Snakes will not bother you, but they WILL bother the pests such as mice and voles that wreak havoc in your garden and your house. There is a someone on the water garden forum who has had one around for quite some time and they have become "friends".

They will keep mice out of your house too, now if they would only eat spiders, however rattlers are a different thing!!

This is certainly no "king" snake or rattler. I know its just a little garden snake. I just wish he'd keep himself in the part of the garden I am NOT in when I'm working! I find myself constantly LOOKING for him. I'll bet I'll be wearing my gloves more often too. I know he has NO intention of hurting me. He is WELCOME to all the mice he can find. Heaven knows with cold weather coming on, if there are any mice around they will be looking for a nice warm place to be!

quite frankly snakes give me the creeps also. if i've seen one and later step on a stick my body goes into dancing-like convulsions 2 minutes after i realize it is a stick. But the ones i notice are always slithering away from me. I could care less if they are poisonous or not. I certainly am not going to chase it down and start chopping it to pieces with an axe. So far they have always seen me first. I have never stepped on one yet. I'm glad they eat the mice. at least the snakes don't pee and chew on everything! And then there is this owl that has been here about everynight. I think he is eating the snakes and the mice. So i sort of look at the owl as kind of a guardian that keeps them under control. And that is the only reward i can give him as he is too timid to get close enough for me to try and feed him some other live-prey. So i hope there remains at least a few for him to stick around and keep them at an unnoticeable level. as long as you don't corner them they will go the opposite direction.

LOL! "dancing-like convulsions 2 minutes"

Hi,
I saw this thread pop up and I just had to check it out, lol. We had/have a snake too. I don't like him either. It took some convincing from the gals in the DG chatroom one night to make me keep him, but they did convince me. I do chase him away and out of sight whenever I see him...well, it kinda happens naturally since my Sheltie is usually with me in the garden and barks at everything that moves (and doesn't move). Mine is a fraidy-snake, and that's fine with me. When I have seen him around in an area I always stomp my feet when I'm going back into that area...to let him know I'm coming and that it's time to hide, and he complies.

Besides rodents and the like, snakes will also eat bugs...and they won't stay where they don't have food...or at least that's what I've been taught. They are a great addition to an organic garden. Think of him as a free bug-zapper! When his duty is done there he'll move on.

I'd say if he really freaks you out when you're working in the garden then just make it known to him that he's not welcome when you're working there. He'll get the point and hide when he senses you're coming.

YES!! He's welcome as long as I don't see him!!! As long as he understands the "terms of our contract" he can stay. I was lying awake last night and it hit me why he might be HERE now. The neighbor's place has been uninhabited for months. I have been keeping the front of the place looking decent but the back... there were some weeds 6 feet tall! The family has come to clean the place up and get it ready for to sell. They come completely cleaned up the weeds and grasses that were behind the house, even pulled all the old dead poppies out. THEY have disturbed where he had been living I am sure!

I always think of fall as being the time when farmers clear fields etc and drive out the mice (who then try to find refuge in our homes!) but this time it was an Urbanite driving a snake out. I'll just learn to stomp my feet to give him fair warning! Thanks for the suggestions on how to co-habitate in our little eco-system here!

LOL! He'll learn the terms of your contract soon enough. The best part is that all the other critters that were driven out of their cozy homes will never invade your cozy home because of Mr. Snake.

A few years back our next door neighbor's home burned. They took care of things as quickly as possible, but it was still months before they could have the shell torn down. It was in July when the house burned, and by fall when the house was torn down...well, we were baiting every place we could get to with Decon. If I would have known to I would have prayed for snakes, lol. Thankfully none of the critters made it indoors or I think I might have had to move. I'm talking about some healthy rats, the things you see in sci-fi movies!

It must have taken about 2 weeks to get rid of them. Since the house was taken down the property has been kept manageable and there's never been another problem.

So, in the big picture, as much as snakes give you the heebie-jeebies...there are worse things...and he's actually helping prevent those worse things. Now, go give Mr. Snake a pat on the back for the great job he's doing! tee hee hee :-)

RATS!!! Holy s......... ah cow! I would FREAK at the thought of RATS.. little rats, any kind of RATS!!!!!!!!! Eeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwww.... I think I'm gonna leave a special treat for the snake!! OK, OK, OK... YOU have convinced me I am GRATEFUL for the snake!!!

Yeah, nothing will freak you out like a run in with critters of those kind. In the beginning I was worried that we'd never get rid of them, but it was actually pretty easy. Of course, I stayed inside and let DH do all the work! So now when I see a snake and it starts to creep me out I just remind myself that they are my friend...they are my friend...they are my friend.

Speaking of rats - here in TN where we live we have seen the BIG wood rats running across the road at night and several times out in the woods surrounding our house. We are not afraid of them, but they seem to run from us. LIZ

Psych - i have non-poisonous snakes on my property, and they startle me when they move suddenly. But - I have NO RATS visiting my compost pile, either. And I'd rather deal with the snakes, than have to mess with rats. The snakes are pretty cool - I just pick them up & move them if they are in the way. I think they don't bother me so much because we started catching them when I was quite young. Frogs & Lizards, too. But if they were poisonous, I'd be heading the other direction.

We have lots of Copperhead snakes here. They are poisonous. I think DH killed about 12 this year. More than usual. I don't know why we had so many since we don't have a lumber pile or anything lying around for them to nest in/under. It scared us because our little Granddaughter visits us regularly.