what are some ways to attract garter snakes out of hiding or in other words into then

garterguy · 05-20-03, 09:05 PM

i was wondering because i caught a glimpse of a few out herping yesterday go under our barn.ive never found a snake in my backyard.so of course i yelled AHA THAT YOU COULD HIDE DIDNT YOU?but then i figured out they werent gonna come out by me saying here snakey snakey snake.so what are some ways to lure them out?thx

Night_Crawler · 05-21-03, 04:23 PM

yah tell us somone

gonesnakee · 05-21-03, 06:17 PM

Try using mice, but I think they'll be more content just to stay hidden from you than to go for them. Mark I.

eldadevoz · 05-22-03, 10:34 AM

Garder snakes like to warm themselves...so I would put a large (5 ft. x 5 ft. min.) flat board or metal sheet on the ground in a sunny spot, near your barn. When I was a kid I spent all my days hunting for garder snakes, and on hot sunny days I would alway find them under large boards or heavy structures in the sun. A few years back, I was in the process of building a large free standing tree type fort for my kids and I had layed some of the big sections on the grass to dry from painting. Something came up and I had to stop working on the fort for a few weeks and when I came back to it...I lifted it up and found like 7 baby garder snakes underneath! So, if you put something down that is big enough and heavy enough and it's in the warm sun...they will go to it...just make sure you don't disturb it for a few weeks. Then on a sunny day lift it up and I am willing to bet that you will have at least 1 snake under there. They probably have their winter den under your barn and could use a good safe place to warm themselves! Good luck! ;-)

eldadevoz · 05-22-03, 10:37 AM

You aren't asking so that you can kill them are you???

garterguy · 05-22-03, 04:46 PM

lol i dont think anyone on this forum wants to kill snakes.you do know this is a herp forum which means that we all love reptiles!thx for the advice though ill try it

eldadevoz · 05-22-03, 08:25 PM

lol! Yes, I do know what kind of forum this is....but that doesn't mean someone couldn't join just to get info. I suppose it is a silly question....because even if you were up to no good....you certainly wouldn't admit it to me. It was just something that struck me and I had to ask. I think if I really believed it, I wouldn't have offered you any advice on how to catch them. ;-) Good luck with your hunt.

nouserpif · 05-23-03, 12:29 AM

Welll... From my garter experiences, they are not easily "lured" out of places. I tried eldadevoz's idea about a year back (something that easily conducts heat in the middle of a yard, or somewhere sunny...) and in about a week, I had a few snakes under it... works VERY well!
you probably wanted something fast but... BE MORE PATIENT NOW!
lol
Dan Conner