While most snakes do not pose a threat to humans, there are venomous species that can do serious harm if they bite you. Whether venomous or not though, your first thought when you spot a snake in your yard is likely “how do I get rid of it?” Snake control is a serious matter that should be approached with the utmost caution.

Snakes tend to be wary creatures and try to avoid exposure, though they do sometimes warm their cold-blooded bodies on rocks and other surfaces that heat up on sunny days. You are most likely to come across a snake in uncultivated areas of your yard and around shelters, such as piles of firewood, rocks, or brush. Most will move away as quickly as possible when they see you – even the venomous types prefer to escape rather than attack. Still, the safest choice is for you to get away from any snake rather than confront it. Follow the steps below to safely get rid of these slithering creatures.

The primary reason snakes make their home in your yard is because they’ve found easy access to prey. Because rodents are a prime food source for many snakes, often the presence of snakes correlates with the presence of mice and rats. By keeping your home rodent-free, you have a better chance of keeping snakes out. Use traps and repellents to eliminate rodents before they entice snakes to come to dinner. Also, be sure to clean up birdseed, pet food, and other food attractants.

Snakes need undisturbed places to hide. Snakes generally like cool, damp, dark areas where they can find food. They are often attracted to stacked firewood, old lumber piles, junk piles, flower beds with heavy mulch, gardens, unkempt basements, shrubbery growing against foundations, attics, stream banks, and unmowed lawns. Mow areas where grass and weeds grow tall and clean up piles of debris around your yard. Snakes also make use of burrows dug by other animals, so fill any you find with soil or stones.

Snakes will even enter your home if they can find a way in, and nobody wants that! Keep these slithering creatures out by blocking off all possible entryways. Keep in mind that snakes can slip through gaps and cracks 1/4" wide. Repair any holes in your foundation, siding, or roof that could allow them to enter. Install screens with small mesh on your chimney and any other openings that cannot be completely sealed off. Also be sure to eliminate gaps under doors that lead into your house.

Snakes have a auxiliary olfactory sense organ known as a Jacobson’s organ, which detects pheromones and other subtle chemical cues from their environments. They do so by flicking their tongues to pull in those cues. These sensory receptors are crucial to helping them navigate. Effective snake repellent products disrupt this function, disorienting them and causing snakes to flee in search of more comfortable conditions. Spread granular repellent or spray liquid repellent, such as Snake-A-Way, around the area where you have seen snakes and they’ll soon be gone for good.

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