How to Get Rid of Snakes
Snakes are common in many parts of the world, and if you have a big yard that’s home to a variety of plants and insects, chances are you encounter them from time to time. The presence of snakes indicates an ecosystem is healthy, but having them in your yard can be unsettling and even dangerous, in the case of venomous snakes. For non-venomous snakes inside of your house, you can generally leave the snake alone and it will find its own way out. If you’d like a more hands-on approach to snake removal, use a push broom to shoo the snake towards an open external door.
Method One of Three:
Removing Snakes Indoors
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1
Call animal control if you fear the snake may be venomous. If you’re uncomfortable handling a snake, even if you don’t believe it to be venomous, there’s no reason you should deal with it yourself. Call animal control to trap it and take it away. Snakes with venomous bites should always be handled by professionals, such as animal control employees or a wildlife trapper.[1]
Try to enclose the snake in one room. If you see it in the laundry room, for example, shut the door and wedge a towel underneath it to prevent the snake from escaping.
Keep children and pets away from the area until animal control has come to capture the snake.
2
Leave the snake alone and let it find a way outside. Most snakes will leave your house on their own if given time and opportunity. If you find a snake in your garage or in a room leading to the outside, shut the inside doors and open the door leading outside so the snake can crawl out.[2]
The snake should leave fairly quickly. This is a simpler and more reliable method than a more aggressive hands-on approach, which may frighten the snake and cause it to hide in a hard-to-reach location in your home.
3
Brush a nonvenomous snake into a large trashcan. If you feel comfortable taking care of the snake on your own, try this common removal method: first, set a large trashcan on its side in the same room as the snake. Then use a push-broom to shoo the snake into the trash can. Once the snake is tin the trash can, tip the can upright and place a lid firmly on top.[3]
Once the snake is securely inside of the trashcan, take the snake to the woods or another area away from your house. Set the can on its side, gently remove the lid, and give the snake time to slither out.
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4
Catch the snake with an indoor trap. If you suspect there may be a snake in your attic, garage, basement or elsewhere in your house, lay out traps along the walls in these areas. Snakes will crawl over or into the traps and get stuck. You—or animal control—can then safely remove the trapped snake and place it outside.[4]
If you catch a nonvenomous snake, place the trap in a bucket and take it outside or to an area where you’d like to release it. Pour vegetable oil over the snake to loosen it from the trap and allow it to crawl away.
Check the traps every day to see if you’ve caught a snake. If you wait too long, the snake will die of starvation.