How do you deal with snakes in your hay storage? Today I found two adult and two juvenile rat snakes when I went in to grab hay to feed. I feed large square bales that I keep on wooden pallets and covered by tarps. I get new hay delivered every 4-6wks and have been doing this for years. But, there’s just something about this summer that has the snakes out in large numbers and I’m worried I’m going to get bit when I go in to reach for hay. Any suggestions?
Eh. I fully admit I have a pet python, so snakes generally don’t bother me. Rat snakes are great, they (big surprise) eat rats and mice. If your barn is free of rats and mice, they’ll move on fairly quickly. If they’re sticking around, consider why.
They conceivably could bite, but they’re constrictors, so their teeth aren’t particularly big or fierce. If you’re really worried, I would just be sure to wear sleeves, pants, and gloves while tossing hay bales around.
Between you and me, I’d honestly welcome rat snakes in my barn. Where I live now we just have Garter snakes and they don’t do a thing about the rodent population in the barn.
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It is unsettling, however you evidently don’t have barn cats to hunt out the rodents?
snakes won’t hang around where there isn’t anything for them to hunt.
as a rule non-poisonous snakes can move faster than poisonous snakes. — that means they get the rodents first. — in turn that means your odds of seeing poisonous snakes goes way down.
i know for fact there are rattle snakes, copperheads and water moccasins (aka cottonmouths) on my road but thank goodness the few times I have seen them, they have not been near my farm.
I have seen seen a rat snake on the back patio and black snake skins here and there on the farm. I also have barn cats. So far, in the 13+ years we have lived here, I have not seen a poisonous snake on this property.
the best way to discourage snakes from wanting to live in your space, is to reduce the rodent population; even if you don’t see the rodents, they are around or the snakes wouldn’t be:)
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Dear God. You texans are tough.
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I always relocate any snakes found in unwanted locations TO the hay shed to keep the mice down! I love having good rat snakes in there.
I think it’s unlikely you will get bit by a rat snake. They are not ones to fight or defend themselves unless truly provoked. Make a lot of noise before you reach in so they know you are coming and they’ll be more likely just to slither off.
I agree if you can reduce their food source, you’ll reduce the snake population. Also, this may be hard to do in this particular situation, but if you remove the snake habitat, they will go elsewhere. Obviously you can’t remove the hay/pallets, but if you can remove as many dark nooks and crannies as possible, the snakes will have less places to hide. That might mean cleaning up loose hay or pulling the pallets and hay away from the wall.
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[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“small”,“data-attachmentid”:9790100}[/ATTACH] We have resident rat snakes in our old barn, we let them be. They do a great job of mousing. With no mice less chance of other snakes. Pallets make a perfect nesting place for mice and easy access for snakes. Try to block all sides of the pallets and the tops and close off your hay storage area. Rat snakes are good climbers. This how I catch them when they come in the he new barn, I move them back to the old barn. They are not aggressive unless shedding, then they can be cranky.
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i have 2 garter snakes in the hay shed. After you’ve had resident water snakes, you really appreciate the black snakes and garter snakes…perspective is everything. this morning we caught and relocated another water snake from the goldfish pond. every afternoon i say hi to the garter snakes in the hay shed. First order of business is to give it a nice friendly name 
Maybe a nice spanish name? Just be glad you don’t have water snakes. They are aggressive and crabby.
I don’t mind snakes in the hay room, but this year there was a nest of garter snakes homesteading under the pallets. It became a bit unnerving after I killed our third large rattlesnake of the year (in the 15 years we have lived here, we had seen 3 total) then walked into the hay room to be greeted by 4 sets of beady eyes staring at me from atop a bale of hay.
Using the advice from a friend, I scattered a few mothballs around and haven’t seen a snake since.
Photo is of the rattlesnake I shot on our front porch- 4 feet long with 9 buttons :eek:
No suggestions as I would be happy to have a snake in my barn that would keep rodents at bay (not that I see rodents - I have a barn cat and ravens who seem to do a good job of hunting).
Do you not want them there just because or are you afraid of them?
My motto with critters in the barn is to live and let live as long as they don’t bother me. I don’t think any of them are going to come for me if I don’t give them reason to.
Unless they are rattlers, then you are playing Russian roulette that you won’t get bitten sooner or later, if you let them stay around where humans and their animals live, in houses or barns.
My little dog has been bitten twice now, almost killed her the second time, horses and cattle get bitten also some times.
A local fellow was bitten a few months ago and almost died, spent weeks in the hospital touch and go.
He is home now but still not quite well.
About two weeks ago I was in a hurry, had company and opened the barn and stepped right in there without looking and right into a rattler.
My brain reacted before I knew that something was there that should not be and barely jumped over it as it tried to scoot away and strike at the same time.
The person behind me, when I yelled, stopped or would have been bitten.
You bet I am back to opening the door first, looking and then entering, no more rushing.
Rattlers have the whole world out there in the canyons to live in.
They don’t need to come to our barns and make themselves at home in there.
Would be foolish to let them, mice or not.
We have plenty of wildlife around, cats don’t have a chance here, the resident bobcat has not yet let one live past it’s first night.
We also have owls and roadrunners, those are really good on snakes.
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Note to self: never ever live in Texas.
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If you have them in your hay then wear gloves when handling it. Just yesterday my husband brought me a round bale that had 2 huge black snakes in it. He pulled the one out and I the other. The wrap I had on it had somehow developed several holes and water and mice had gotten in ( reason the snakes were there) so I ended up having him dump the bale and he picked another one.
I don’t mind snakes as long as they are not poisonous. Black snakes kill copperheads so they are welcome here.
Y’all are the best! I’ve seen the snakes off and on over the past month, and yesterday I was at my wit’s end after having seen 4 snakes all at once. I honestly thought I only had one snake, now I know better :).
They did move pretty slowly and learning that they are constrictors gives me a little relief. Thankfully, they don’t freak me out, but it is unnerving to lift up a tarp and find a 5ft snake right there.
I do have small brown mice running around the hay pallets. So, I’m certain they are here to eat them. We’ve seen a few mice in the basement of the house too. I jokingly talked about relocating the snakes to the house, DH, didn’t think it was funny. I don’t have a barn cat because our neighbor’s cat includes our property in his territory. He will run off any other cats that attempt to come over. I haven’t seen him in a a few weeks though, and have recently wondered if maybe neighbor kitty was no longer around. The hawks and owls took care of the full sized rat I found a while back,so happy for that!
I’ve got a new hay delivery coming soon and that’s when I clean up loose hay, and shift pallets around. Found out last month that the hay guys are afraid of snakes :). Turns out that several farms in the area are having the same problem.
Bluey…wow, I just can’t imagine having to deal with rattlesnakes.
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just saying … I HATE SNAKES ! :eek:
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I CAN’T keep the black snakes around ! Every time I catch a black snake in the field, I throw it into the hay barn. Snakes don’t seem to dine much on grey squirrels though. I’ve a 30 gallon stew pot of them living in the trees around the house. 
OP, if you are cleaning the hay area, put mothballs under the pallets to keep the snakes away. It’s a cheap fix and it works. 
I said a few VERY bad words when I saw that picture…
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Lol, I was told that I was cussing so much that it sounded like I was speaking in “tongues,” lol. I don’t remember that, but it’s probably true. I am thankful our dogs were in the backyard at the time. The next day I gave them snake shots, just in case.
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One of the lovliest ‘nature’ sights I’ve ever seen was a brand new baby garter snake. It was resting on a bale of hay in my hay barn, probably newly hatched. It was about the size of a pencil, shiney & just perfect.
On the other hand, I walked into my garage one day and heard this strange whirring noise. Looked around and about two feet away was a coiled rattler, incensed that I was encroaching on his territory. Never knew I could move so fast! :eek:
Please, please name it Michael Weatherly.
