If you live near a snake-infested area, the chances of seeing snakes around your ponds are high. Snakes love cold and damp places, although they often get warmth from external sources like the sun.
Some snakes can survive for up to 365 days without tangible food sources. This ability enables them to survive harsh conditions and adapt to various habitats.
Whether you’ve recently removed a snake from your pond or tried to prevent one from roaming around, we have some helpful tips for you in this post.
Keep reading to learn easy and cheap ways to keep these reptiles away from your pond.
To keep snakes at bay, you can:
- Identify and remove their hideouts.
- Remove their food sources.
- Set a snake trap.
- Scare them with fake owls, etc.
The sections below will discuss several ways to deter snakes from ponds and answer common queries about their infestation.
How To Deter Snakes From Your Pond
There are several ways to keep snakes away from ponds.
We will discuss some of them under different categories.
Let’s get on with the first!
1. Remove Their Hiding Places
Snakes, like any other reptile, prefer to hide in secret places.
They hide to find food in bushes, grasses, and piles of dirt.
To remove their hideout, you should:
I. Trim Nearby Grasses
Snakes prefer to stay out of sight when they are close to humans. They can hide behind the tall grasses that have grown around your pond.
If you want to keep these unwanted guests at bay from your pond, you can’t afford to leave tall grasses around your pond area.
Trim down grasses that may hide snakes. Being a grass lover shouldn’t matter at this point, but the safety of everyone using your pond.
II. Collect Piles
Wood piles, compost piles, large rocks, mulch, etc., are perfect hiding places for wandering snakes.
These reptiles can breed more among heaps.
To keep a snake-free environment for your ponds, ensure you move all heaps around and dispose of them.
III. Remove Stagnant Water
Snakes are cold-blooded animals. Thus, they love to stay around water areas.
They prefer wet places as they keep help them stay hydrated, especially when shedding.
So, after every rainfall, look for places around your home close to the ponds retaining water.
Be sure to drain out the stored water and fill up the holes.
IV. Clean the Pond Surroundings
Cleaning the areas close to the ponds is very crucial. It will eliminate places where snakes could hide around the pond area.
Proper cleaning will give the pond environment a pleasing look, discouraging snakes from lurking around.
2. Remove Their Food Sources
Discarding or eliminating objects that can serve as food to snakes will help reduce snake movement around your ponds.
Snakes are carnivorous animals that eat warm-blooded prey like rodents and birds. Also, amphibians, other reptiles, and insects are some of their food sources.
Perhaps, there are mice, rodents, or rats in your surroundings. If there are, you need to remove them.
If you can, set mouse traps everywhere around the ponds, but ensure you buy a close mouse trap. Do not use an open web to catch the mice. The snake may eat the mouse and leave the spot untrapped.
3. Set a Snake Trap
Setting a snake trap to catch snakes is a one-way thing. You can get one at a nearby market or store.
Remember to attach an alluring and enticing smell around the web while putting it in place. The scent will draw the snakes’ attention to the trap while the sticky part holds the snake firmly.
When you arrive at the trap spot for removal, you can call the attention of a snake removal expert. They will help to relocate the reptile using snake tongs.
Also, snake feeding is another essential method for deterring snakes from ponds. You should install it around the ponds.
Snakes can’t move close to the fencing and will retreat from the pond areas.
4. Use Snake Repellent
Below are some snake repellents you can apply to keep them at bay:
I. Spray Essential Oil
Like some reptiles and rodents, snakes dislike the scent of specific natural remedies.
Although these fragrances are unique to humans and pets, reptiles find them overwhelming.
These essential oils that repel snakes include those made from clove, cinnamon, peppermint, etc.
To use these to deter snakes, mix an equal quantity of the oil and water in a spray bottle well and spray around the pond areas.
II. Grow Snake Repellent Plant
Snakes find the smell of some plants annoying and can’t stand to inhale them.
These plants are marigolds, warm wood, lemon grass, and garlic.
You can grow some or all of these plants to prevent snakes from hiding around your pond area.
5. Set a Guineafowl Trap
Another way to deter reptiles from your home is to raise guineafowl. These birds are a nightmare to snakes.
If you have poultry in your yard, add these fowls to the birds you rear.
6. Use Fake Owl To Scare Snakes
An owl decoy is useful in frightening rodents and reptiles. Farmers use this strategy on their farms to preserve crops. But besides deterring rodents, snake decoys can also help keep snakes at bay.
You can get some plastic owls from a hardware store around you and attach them to long planks near your pond. Snakes will assume the decoy owls are genuine and avoid coming around your garden.
Changing where you hang the decoy owls frequently is best for the best results. If the owls remain in the same position all the time, the snakes trying to invade your pond will soon figure out they are not real.
Conclusion
When it comes to deterring snakes from ponds, using natural remedies is best. Besides protecting your fish(es) from danger, natural remedies are friendlier and safer for the ecosystem and preserve the snake’s life.
As you probably know, most state laws forbid killing ecologically helpful wildlife.
All the strategies above are safe and DIY-friendly. However, if you don’t have all the time to go the DIY route, you can hire a pest removal company to handle the problem.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are the Best Remedies To Keep Snakes Away?
There are several natural remedies to make your environment snake-free. Examples are snake plants, lemon grass, garlic, onions, marigolds, cloves, and cinnamon oil.
What Do Water Snakes Hunt at Night?
During the day, water snakes may lurk around the bushes close to the waterside. They are either searching for worms, frogs, or leeches to hunt. But they concentrate on those fishes close to the shallow waters at night.
How Do You Know Snakes Are Around Your Home?
You can know snakes are around your home from their noticeable smell.
Another way to know when snakes are around is that you find their shredded skin close to your home.
Lastly, you can know when you discover a crumpled heap close to the door of your home. You can also determine a snake movement when you find a slithered sign on the floor and a crack on the wall close to the slithered floor.
