Snake in barn

[NaturalSelection]

I’m sure plenty of people aren’t bothered by snakes and may even appreciate their assistance in controlling mice population.

Not me. I have a major snake phobia.

Our pole barn is surrounded by hay field. We’re still new construction and plan to pour concrete floors someday. For now we have about 300 small square bales stacked on tarps, the bottom bales are sacrificed.

Tonight when I was shuffling hay, I lifted a bottom bale and there was a pretty big snake, maybe 1-1 1/2" diameter, very unusual pattern, not a small garter snake.

I have two part time farm/barn cats (inside at night) who help control mice. What else can I do to deter snakes from setting up shop in the barn?

[Bluey]

Snakes come to the mice buffet barns provide.
Keep mice out and you won’t have snakes.

There is a product, naphta crumbles, that the U of WI studied that works for snakes, keeps them away.
The crumbles come in a plastic container and you spread them around the perimeter of a house, garage or barn.
Those disrupt the snakes senses and they don’t go close to that.
You have to reapply every 3-4 months.
One brand is called Snake-Away and feed stores, Home Depot and such sell it here.

You could also get counseling for your snake phobia.

[walkinthewalk]

@Bluey

.

You could also get counseling for your snake phobia.

DH found two big skins, in the field by the road, when he was weed whacking that fence row.

i told him they were likely Black snake skins as the viper snakes are short and fat — he shuddered. In kind reply I said “get over yourself”:)

snakes seem to be busier than usual this year. That is great info about the Naptha products - thanks:). I have always depended on keeping things well mowed and having a barn cats. It never hurts to have another deterrent in the snake arsenal:)

[allons-y]

Please don’t hurt the snake! He’s helping you get rid of mice and just wants to be left alone to do it. When the mice are gone he’ll move on. I had great big owls before I got the barn cats. I loved those owls, but they were a symptom of my rodent problem. Now that the cats have taken over, the owls moved on. I only rarely see a snake or snakeskin now. I keep everything mown and rarely see even bunnies in the fields anymore. Nonvenomous snakes are a gift, remember that. I haven’t seen a rodent or new droppings since last year. Now the cats ‘gift’ me with moles.

[Marla_100]

“I keep everything mown and rarely see even bunnies in the fields anymore”.

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If you want to encourage a well balanced ecosystem on your farm, encourage bunnies with shelter areas un-mowed

or make brush piles or large shrubs in your fields. Quail will come also, Our manicured fields ruin the atmosphere

for many things since they have no hiding places for nests and safety from predators. Oh, and no toxic sprays either.

[Toblersmom]

About the only thing you can do to guarantee no snakes in a place where you are keeping horses is to move to someplace like Hawaii or Ireland that are free of snakes and scrupulously kept so by law. Not quite true, there is a boa in the Honolulu zoo, at least there was one about 20 years ago. Keeping mice and other food sources down is the main thing, that and eliminating shelter points around the periphery of the buildings where you really don’t want snakes (brush piles, piles of poles for the arena, empty feed bags, high grass, etc) is about the best you can do otherwise, and then you are still likely to see snakes in a typical horse-keeping environment. If you encourage a more natural habitat at one or more points on the far periphery of the property that you don’t interact with much, to give wildlife a place to carry on their business without going into your barn, that might help, too.