Snakes in My Basement

[Paolo Alfa]

Hello, I am here because I have snakes in my basement/crawlspace and would like to know how best to deal with them. I don't want to hurt them but I don't want them to hurt me or my pets. My plan is to remove them and dump them in a riparian park about two miles away. To do this I just recently purchased a snake catcher stick and a hook and would like to know how to use them together in a manner that is safe for me and the snake. Also, is this plan my best course of action short of calling in a professional which I cannot afford. Thank you for your help

[Andy_G]

What kind of snakes are they? Can you get pics? If these snakes are venomous than the only way you can deal with them is call a professional in my opinion because even if you have the right tools to handle venomous snakes, if you haven't before and don't know how to use the tools or read the animals, you are very likely to make a mistake and be bitten.

[akane]

Definitely don't mess with venomous snakes but you really shouldn't self relocate several animals like that. It could damage another ecosystem or cause a public problem. Call your local wildlife services or individuals listed for wildlife rehabilitation for names of people who will deal with them appropriately. It's quite likely you will find some doing it for free or less than your equipment and far less than your hospital cost of even a nonvenomous bite are unless you've got something like garter snakes.

A warning though. If your house is ideal for snakes for some reason they will keep coming so further steps may be needed to try to stop them or it may be an ongoing thing. There was an article of a house built on a brumation site which is where they gather in large numbers to basically hibernate in winter and every owner just kept having to abandon it.

[dannybgoode]

Of course if they're non venomous they'll be doing you a favour rodent control so you may just end up swapping snakes for a rat infestation.

I know which is choose :)

[Paolo Alfa]

Some more detail. Over the past 3 years I have seen some snake skins and have seen one leaving the basement on three occasions. I had thought the problem over until I saw this one up in my pipes. He was coiled up and obviously attracted by a work light i had put there. I put him in a bucket and took him to a park and let him go. I am hoping he was the only one there.

I have a snake catching stick arriving soon and I am going to go down and look with it to help, I caught this one with an improvised pipe and gloves and it was a harrowing experience.

i am in the North and Eastern part of the state of Maryland in the United States of America, around the City of Baltimore and 30 miles or so south of Pennsylvania. I am not within a mile of any large body of water, though a stream is about 300 yards distant on either side. I have been told that the only venomous snake in this area is the Copperhead and the snake I caught did not look like one. He was black with some very indistinct red dots and was most likely a rat snake according to some Park Rangers i talked to.

One thing I have been told to do first is to run a lawn mower in the basement for a few minutes before I go down. Is this a good idea? I think it might be as I have read that snakes can't hear but can sense vibration and one web site on how to get rid of snakes says that will frighten them away. I might use the lawn mower on a daily basis if I thought it would keep the snakes away. OTOH could vibration ATTRACT snakes, since some people have told me stories of encountering them while mowing their lawns? Also could it make the snakes flee into my home's living areas rather than outdoors?

Finally, i have a minnow trap which they say is usable as a snake trap. I have been told to bait it with fresh free range eggs and check it daily. My plan at this point is to run the lawn mower, check the cellar and then leave the baited trap, then repeat that routine daily. After a fortnight of that i will begin to work on making sure the basement is well sealed as well. Can anyone seen any problems with that?

So many questions, I am sorry. At least I am learning. I think I will go to my local city Zoo and talk to some people. Perhaps I can learn to tolerate them, (snakes, not zookeepers). I have already noted that at least the one I encountered seemed to have an especially mild and tolerant disposition for a wild animal and would have possibly made an interesting pet if he wasn't so frightening, though I know you're not supposed to do that.

Thank you all for any further help.

[trailblazer295]

A rat snake posses no danger to you or your pets unless you keep mice. I have a mouse problem as we speak so feel free to send the little guy over.

[TheVoid]

Do you know what the color pattern is? If you can look it up, you might be able to deal with the snake on your own. However, if you cannot identify it's species, don't take any chances! While snakes are wonderful and interesting animals, they could be venomous or carry diseases.
I had an experience like this before- a snake managed to sneak into my house and into my room. I got up in the middle of the night and saw it, thinking it was a fake one, and then it moved! The bright color pattern made me think it was a Coral Snake (which are native where I live), and my dad killed it with a shovel... We took a closer look at it, and I identified it as the innocent Milk Snake. Corals and Milks are very similar in color pattern, and it is hard to differentiate between yellow and white in the dark. The poor thing was just a baby, too.

Tip: snakes love to hide in dark places. If you turn on the light in your basement, they are likely to slither off into a dark crawlspace. You'd be surprised at the spaces they can fit in! There are many different kinds, and you might want to look up which ones are native in your area, and try your best to identify them before taking action on your own. Remember, snakes are mostly afraid of you! If you try to pick one up and it recoils, making an S shape, that means it's getting ready to strike. And trust me, if you don't know how to handle one, they will catch you off guard! They're very quick. I don't suggest picking one up AT ALL. If it's venomous, call a professional no matter what. If it isn't, bites are still very dangerous. Please be as cautious as possible. They won't come after you on their own (snakes only eat small things), but they defend themselves (and they're really good at it)! Good luck.

[akane]

While generally things that get in your house are smaller babies rat snakes can get 4' easy and up to 8' so if you run into a big one it's still not something you really want to try to move on your own. They aren't real dangerous though and even bigger ones aren't going to eat your standard pets. They are after smaller, easy rodent prey. If you let small exotics roam your house then you might have a problem. Otherwise if you aren't trying to grab hold of one it's just going to try to escape and if agitated by something they deliver a solid bite that you need to keep from getting infected before they go back to trying to run away. It's when you try to catch snakes that you get yourself in trouble.

Most of the time cats and dogs are a far bigger threat to snakes than the other way around if they aren't venomous. A cat bite is probably a death sentence to a snake due to their own ability to leave punctures full of bacteria. You should try to ID the snakes but the only other venomous one I see for your state is the timber rattlesnake and they are very shy while generally avoiding even well used paths much less your house. Personally I've only seen a dead one and it's usually hunters walking off path in the woods that find them here.

[Paolo Alfa]

The more I look on this the more I think (and hope) that this was just one that crawled in to shed his skin, (as I said, I've seen skins in there), and then noted how nice and warm it was up underneath the lit work lite that I had hung up there and found so useful I had decided to leave it there.

I'm only planning on using the snake catcher stick if I see one and he won't leave after I've run the mower in the basement. Thanks again for all your help.

[sattva]

I read an article that said if you want to get rid of of snakes you have to take away their food source... You may need to buy mouse traps... :eek:

[dannybgoode]

I read an article that said if you want to get rid of of snakes you have to take away their food source... You may need to buy mouse traps... :eek:

But then you're replacing a natural snake trap with an artificial one ;).

I'd stick with the resident snake...

[trailblazer295]

But then you're replacing a natural snake trap with an artificial one ;).

I'd stick with the resident snake...

I wish my natural mouse trap would work better. Having to rely on artifical ones. :no: