How does one go about getting rid of rat snakes?

Thank you so much for your speedy response, AKRao. I am not especially afraid of snakes as I know that they are generally much more afraid of humans than we are of them but I have seen these snakes stand their ground and shake their tails in a threatening gesture. I know they do this only if they feel threatened themselves and will turn and run whenever they can but my dogs are, well, they're not rocket scientists, if you catch my drift. I'll just have to make sure that they avoid this area. Maltese dogs have enough energy to power a rather large city and they do love to run. I think I will build a fence between the area I allow them to run in and where my garden (and the snakes) are. That will at least prevent the two critters meeting face to face unless the snakes move but I've seen one of them in the same spot a couple of years in a row now so I think they'll stay around my garden to catch the rodents that are after my vegetables. My property borders a lake as well and there are snakes in the reeds near the lake but my dogs are blocked from going down there by fencing I've already installed. The dogs are just curious enough to want to find out what is slithering in the reeds and I'm sure they would investigate if they could. As a side note, I must say I envy you a bit with the horse farm. I love horses but have never had the opportunity to own any. We have neighbors with horses now and I grew up near a family who owned a golden Palomino. I'd often visit that horse and the owners would give me carrots to feed him. Thanks again for the great advice.

Funny you should mention removing the rr ties. My husband had plans to remove them since they're rotting and replace them with stones. He even went so far as to buy a small winch, one that can lift, I believe, 400 pounds. His plan was to pick the ties up and swing them right on over to his truck so he could take them all to the dump. Of course, I'm not holding my breath for that to happen. I was referred to a link (below) that reminded me that snakes do like to come inside and I sure don't want my snakes thinking that my house is a good alternative if their present home is removed! I've decided that, as long as they don't multiply, I'll let them stay where they are and just build my girls a fenced area, away from the garden, where they can be relatively safe and still have enough room to wear off some of that ever-present energy. I also read that mothballs are made of the same stuff that a product called SnakeAway is made from so I may put some containers filled with mothballs (with holes small enough to prevent them from falling out but big enough for the smell to come through) around the outside of the dogs' fenced-in area. That should prevent the snakes from coming into the dogs pen. That's the hope, anyway. Maybe I'll consult a local exterminator and see what they suggest (being mindful of the fact that they will, of course, try to sell me their services).

I stopped yelling at bugs for the same reason... they can't hear me. Now, I use sign language. Actually, I bought some of those sonic things you stick in the ground. These are solar-powered and emit a high-pitched noise that, apparently, creates a vibration under the ground that rodents don't like. AND THIS THING SEEMS TO BE WORKING!!! Yippee!!!!!! I've noticed a definite decrease in the rodent population since I did this and I haven't seen (or heard) the snakes for at least a week now. So, I've not only gotten rid of the snakes, I've gotten rid of the rodents, too. Actually, I think that getting rid of the rodents is why the snakes have moved on. They have nothing left to feed on. Although, my cat did come in the house last night with some rodent-type thing in his mouth and proceeded to eat it. (He never just brings them in and drops them at my feet... these things are apparently a treat to him. Eww.) So, what rodents the sonic thing hasn't gotten rid of, my cat is. No matter what is getting rid of them, the snakes have apparently found a better place to live.

Haha , silly me. Thanks for explaining .. I'll take note of your "little girl" in future.. teehee.. It's very cool that you are not resorting to any types of poisons , which make all of it sound very eco-friendly. I think all living things deserve to live too , so the best is either to trap and set up defense like the fences. Keeps you busy and out of trouble , and you're a great animal lover. Awesome. More people should do it this way rather than killing and poison pests.

My "little girl" is my dog, zed. Sorry, I keep forgetting not everyone knows that I call my dogs my little girls. I've also begun a full-scale attack on the rodents that are attracting the snakes so, hopefully, if I can at least get rid of most of the rodents, the snakes will move on to, uh, furrier (?) pastures. It's just not easy to eradicate rodents when you don't want to use any type of poisons. I'm using electronic gadgets, plants that small rodents supposedly hate the smell of as well as traps. Being the tree-hugging, aging hippie ( ) I am, the traps are HabiTraps, made to capture, not to kill or maim. When I catch any, I take them to a park area about 5 or 6 miles from here and release them. I may be doing absolutely no good at all in eradicating the snakes but it keeps me busy and out of trouble.

Ah, unfortunately, I'll never be able to get rid of their food, not living here. I'm in the country, in the mountains, surrounded by farmland. But... I recently bought a thing that you stick in the ground and it emits a sonic beeping that is supposed to keep burrowing rodents away and that will be great except that they will just move to another area. I've placed that thing in my front yard where I have a major problem with moles, voles and gophers. I'm not sure yet if it works or not but I should know pretty soon. If I don't see any new holes in the yard or those tunnels you can see in the grass, I'll know it works and will definitely buy more to put around my entire property or at least where my garden areas are and where my dogs play. I've also decided to build a fenced-in area for my dogs, well away from the garden area and away from the snakes. After reading that article from the link you gave me, I'm going to try mothballs but in a way that won't allow any animals to accidentally eat any of them. I'm going to buy some plastic tubing, slightly larger around than mothballs, drill holes along the length of the tubing to allow the smell to escape, then fill them with mothballs and place them outside the perimeter of the dogs' pen. Hopefully, that should prevent the snakes from crossing into the dogs' pen, although I doubt they would anyway since I doubt rodents would want to take up residence where dogs run all the time. Ah, country life!

That all sounds very good. Keep us posted how it comes out. Meanwhile, I would be sure to chaperone the dogs when they're out. Can't be too careful.

Whew! Thanks, uath. That's reassuring. I would worry about my littlest gal, though. She weighs only 5 pounds but she's awfully feisty. She's tried to go after dogs at least 10 times her size. Totally fearless. But, I've decided to put up a fence to keep them away from the garden area and still give them enough room to run. We're in the middle of a really severe t-storm right now and my pier at the lake is all but underwater right now. Even though my garden area is well above lake-level, I'm sure those snakes aren't too happy with all this rain. Maybe they'll move closer to the woods. One can hope, anyway. I'll try to live alongside the snakes since they do keep the small rodent population down. Since they've moved in, I have noticed that my veggie plants haven't been nibbled on, except by the occasional bug which I try to keep under control with marigolds and "good" bugs (ladybugs and preying mantis). Now, to tackle that darned deer problem! LOL (I've already begun my "anti-deer" maneuvers and they seem to be helping.)

Hi moon. I think my first step will be to put fencing between my dogs' running area and where the snakes are. Since they have remained around my garden (I've never seen them away from that area) I'll just make sure my dogs don't get close to that area when I'm not around. The snakes have run from me every time I've seen them but I have also seen one standing it's ground and shaking it's tail when my cat got close. Of course, the snake was backed up to the lake and I'm sure it felt trapped since it couldn't get away, although my cat had no intentions of getting closer to it. (Smart cat!) We do have a big rodent problem around here. It's generally farmland so, naturally, we're going to have field mice, gophers, rabbits, etc. I really like the snakes being there to help rid our area of these vermin so, for now, I'm just going to have my son help me build a fenced-in area where my girls can run without me fearing for their safety. It might be a good idea for me to put mothballs around the outside of their pen, too, since I was just informed that snakes can't stand mothballs and a product called SnakeAway is primarily the main ingredient in mothballs. I'll just be sure the dogs can't reach them although I doubt they'd want to. Eww. Plus, I don't want to put that stuff near my veggie garden since mothballs are poisonous. I may look around for someone local who exterminates snakes because, even though one or two snakes is workable, if they have babies I sure don't want to be overrun by them!

Thanks, Cats. I have just read about mothballs and snakes and it looks like I'll be using them but not exactly the way they said. I realized that I'll never be totally rid of snakes, not living here, so I'll have to learn how to keep them out of areas I don't want them in. I'm going to have my son help me build a fenced-in area for the dogs, like a pen but a BIG one so they can run to their hearts' content. I'll put it as far away from my garden area (and from the snakes) as possible. I've also decided that I'm going to figure out a way to place mothballs around the outside of the dogs' pen but in a way that no animal could eat any, if they're weird enough to try. I was thinking of maybe getting some plastic tubing, bigger around than the mothballs, and drilling small holes along the length of it, then fill it with mothballs and place it all around the outside of the pen. That should allow the smell from them to (hopefully) keep the snakes away yet they'd be impossible for any animal to accidentally swallow any. If that works, I might just do that same thing around the house because I sure don't want those slithery things making a home INSIDE the house!

Yeah, I'm sure that's what would happen. It's not like we're living in Metropolis here, all concrete and brick. Living in the mountains in the country with farms all over the place, we'll always have rodents and always have snakes. I've decided to build a fenced-in area for my girls, large enough so they can still run off some of their energy but far enough away from my garden area to at least give me a little peace of mind. I heard that snakes can't stand mothballs so I'm thinking of putting mothballs in some kind of containers with small enough holes so they don't fall through around the outside of my dogs' pen. That might keep the snakes well away from the dogs' area. I know that my biggest girl (7 pounds) is a huge ninny when it comes to putting her money where her mouth is but the little one (5 pounds), she's a feisty little thing! She'd go after the snakes, I have no doubt. So, I guess the fence is a good idea to not only keep the snakes away from her but also to keep her away from the snakes.

Thank you for your very informative response, veejay. For now, I have decided to build a pen to keep my dogs in and far away from the snakes, at least from where the snakes live. If these snakes have offspring, I mean a LOT of offspring, then I'll get an exterminator to at least get rid of the majority of them. I will also be using every method I can find (without using poison) to rid my property of most of the rodents these snakes eat so the snakes may eventually move on to find more food. Other than that, I guess I'll just have to learn to live with them and keep my dogs well away as best as I can. It's just that my smallest dog, who weighs a mere five pounds, thinks she's a BIG dog and would try to chase down a snake. I'll have to make sure that she never gets out of the pen.

I kind of got used to snakes when I would go fishing at a local river when I lived in Baltimore. I'd see them occasionally but usually just heard them scurrying away if I got close to them. Of course, they always made me jump whenever I heard them but they were always going in the opposite direction so I learned to relax a bit around them. It's just that the snakes I saw/heard when I was fishing weren't anywhere near as big as these snakes are. I'm going to call a local exterminator and maybe talk to some neighbors to see if they have any advice. Other than that, I've decided to build a fenced-in area where my dogs can run without getting close to the garden area and, hopefully, always be well away from the snakes. I'm sure that, if I got rid of these snakes, more would just move right on in. We're in the mountains, with trees and bushes all around and with plenty of farmland so there will always be rodents and there will always be snakes. They can do what they want as long as that is STRICTLY eating rodents and as long as they let me do my gardening without them getting too close to me. But, if they start reproducing, that's when I'll get an exterminator out here to at least get rid of the ones they can find at the time. Ugh. I guess it's one of the drawbacks of living in the country, in the mountains, and beside a lake. (Yep, we have water snakes, too.)

Hi Jen. I have a few plastic owls around and keep moving them from place to place to, hopefully, scare off at least a few of the rodents and birds. I'm not sure if snakes are afraid of owls or not, though. Still, if I can scare off the rodents, the snakes should surely move on to find them. In my head, I'm always repeating, "The snakes are good for the garden, the snakes are good for the garden..." but that "fight or flight" instinct comes to the forefront every time I see one. I'll be putting up a fence to keep the dogs contained in an area away from the snakes but I'm also attacking this from the rodent end, using whatever methods I can, short of poison, to get them outta here. The owls probably help some but I'm also using these electronic, sonic things that you stick in the ground to frighten the burrowing rodents and have mint planted all over the place since rodents hate the smell of it. (I don't care that mint spreads like a weed... cutting the grass with mint throughout it smells REALLY GOOD. ) I had actually thought of buying some rubber/plastic snakes to put around the garden to help scare the rodents off and maybe even put some in my fruit trees to keep the birds at bay when the fruits are getting ripe. I'm not going to depend on the fake snakes in my trees, though, because I've waited years for these fruits and I don't want to chance losing any of them to the birds; I'll be covering the trees with netting instead. I only wish it were that easy to rid the property of the rodents! But, like I said in my response above your comment, it may not do much good at all but it keeps me busy and out of trouble.

This fella.