Garter Snakes They are native to both North and Central America and are the most common snakes found in gardens and yards. They're also called grass snakes and are distinguished by 1 or 3 long, yellow to red stripes that are often checkered.
The common garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis, Fig. 1) is found from coastal and mountain forests to sagebrush deserts, usually close to water or wet meadows or your garden. Next to the Northwestern garter snake, this species is the most frequently encountered snake.
The four most common species are the Eastern rat snake, black racer, common garter snake and common watersnake.
Common Garter Snake
If you have ever wrestled with slugs eating your plants, then the garter snake is at the top of the list of beneficial species you want to include in your garden.
Most encounters with snakes are passing, but when one does occur, be sure to: Leave the snake alone. Identify it by species. Continue to leave it alone so long as it is not venomous and not inside a house or building.
Snakes enter a building because they're lured in by dark, damp, cool areas or in search of small animals, like rats and mice, for food. Snakes can be discouraged from entering a home in several ways. Keeping the vegetation around the house cut short can make the home less attractive to small animals and snakes.
Leave it alone. Snakes are generally shy and will not attack unless provoked, so it's best to leave them be.
Snakes are generally shy animals who want nothing to do with people. They can be beneficial because they eat mice, slugs, grubs, insects, and other pests and they can be food for other wildlife such as hawks.
Snakes live in a wide variety of habitats including forests, swamps, grasslands, deserts and in both fresh and salt water. Some are active at night, others during the day. Snakes are predators and eat a wide variety of animals, including rodents, insects, birds' eggs and young birds.
The inland or western taipan, Oxyuranus microlepidotus, is the most venomous snake in the world, according to Britannica. Native to Australia, this snake has the deadliest venom based on median lethal dose, or LD50, tests on mice.
South Australia
Sand dunes are common breeding grounds for snakes of this region. Most of the venomous tend to be in this area. This is because it receives large amounts of sun but at the same time allows for enough cover for protection. The Tiger snake is a species that represent South Australia.
The most common venomous snakebites are caused by the following snakes: Pit vipers. These include rattlesnakes, copperheads, and cottonmouth (water moccasin) snakes.
The eastern ratsnake is a shiny black snake with weakly keeled scales and an irregular black and white checkerboard pattern on the belly. The chin and throat are cream or white in color. Juveniles look very different. They have strongly patterned backs of gray and brown blotches on pale gray.
Because of this, they come in contact with man frequently, and account for most of the recorded snake bites in Australia. The Eastern Brown shelters in hollow logs, rock crevices, unused animal burrows, and under rubbish around buildings.
What Smell Do Snakes Hate? Strong and disrupting smells like sulfur, vinegar, cinnamon, smoke and spice, and foul, bitter, and ammonia-like scents are usually the most common and effective smells against snakes since they have a strong negative reaction to them.
Foxes and raccoons are common predators of snakes. Guinea hens, turkeys, pigs, and cats will also help keep snakes away.
Don't panic. Back away to a safe distance and allow the snake to move away. Snakes often want to escape when disturbed. Remember, all native wildlife, including snakes, is protected.
There are many scents snakes don't like, including smoke, cinnamon, cloves, onions, garlic, and lime. You can use oils or sprays containing these fragrances or grow plants featuring these scents to deter snakes from coming close to your property. This works as snakes also rely on smell to move around.
Will snakes stay away from dogs? Snakes don't like to get in the way of dogs, the reason being that dogs are louder, bigger, and more annoying than a good snack. If your dog is present in an area, the chances are high that snakes will stay away.
While they can be out any time, rattlesnakes are most active in the morning and from dusk into the night. They hunt mice and rodents in darkness because they can sense body heat with special organs on their face.
If you find a dry, scaly sheet of the skin or a crumpled heap somewhere close to an entrance into the walls of your home or small space areas. If you are inspecting a dusty area or crawl space, you might notice slither tracks that indicate where a snake has traveled. Snakes have a distinctive smell that is noticeable.
Both venomous and nonvenomous snakes are extremely wary of humans and are not prone to strike. A bite is their last-ditch effort to avoid harm. Simply leaving a snake to do its job in the landscape is the best way to avoid a bad encounter.
Turns out, we can actually say that snakes can't climb. Rather, snakes have figured out a pretty nifty way to slither up vertical surfaces. To understand how snakes slither up surfaces, we first need to understand how they slither on the ground as well. They have extremely muscular bodies.