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[gardenman]

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@PurpleBunny wrote:

Ahhhh.  Threads like these make me appreciate New England. 😉

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You might just want to Google "common snakes in (insert name of your state here.)" There are lots of snakes in New England. Sad to say, snakes in the house are more of a problem in cold weather states than the warmer weather states. When the weather gets cold snakes look for someplace warm to hang out and homes are warm. That's why they overcome their fear of people to move in with us over the winter. Once warm weather rolls around the snakes tend to move back out.

Mice and rats are largely the same. You have more mouse and rat issues in the winter than the summer. In the summer there's more food out in the wild at less risk than in a home, so the mice move back out. Where the mice/rats go, the snakes go. Your house becomes a bed and breakfast for snakes in the winter with a nice warm area for lounging (snakes are coldblooded so they need to be in a warm area to survive) and readily available food (the mice who are also looking for someplace warm for winter.) If you've got a mouse in your house, or ever have had a mouse in your house, then odds are you've got, had, or will have a snake in your house. They can get through holes smaller than mice can and if they get cold and hungry a nice warm place with food available starts to look pretty good despite those annoying humans.

[Lipstickdiva]

@RedTop, I just looked up a black racer snake online and our aggressive snake doesn't look like that.  It's black but it has a red stripe.  I think it's a garter snake but with a bad attitude.  LOL

 

[LBird]

Not sure if this will help you but I do this twice a year for spiders and anything else that would like to get into my home.  It's called Boar OX washing power it comes in a box it's power form. You will wait till a dry day no rain and no rain for two or three days you will take the boar ox and put it on the out side premature of your home. Be carefull because it will ack like a weed killer so don't do on a windy day or you will have no grass .  My boy's love it because they did not have to weed eat around the house.  I use a lot of it I feel the more the better. Yes it does work, I will be getting ready in the spring to do our house.  Hope that helps. Oh ya yes mothballs are wonderfull

[estaw2000]

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@PurpleBunny wrote:

Ahhhh.  Threads like these make me appreciate New England. 😉

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Not to frighten you but I live in Maine & I had 2 inside my house last year!

[fourpaws56]

I had an eight foot long rattle-snake in my living room, I think it came in thrugh the cat door.....

[gardenman]

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@estaw2000 wrote:

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@PurpleBunny wrote:

Ahhhh.  Threads like these make me appreciate New England. 😉

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Not to frighten you but I live in Maine & I had 2 inside my house last year!

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Yeah, the sad reality is that you're more likely to get snakes inside your house in a colder area than a warm one. The snakes look for someplace warm and houses are generally warmer than the outdoors. In a warmer climate the risk/reward for snakes keeps them outside, but given a choice between freezing or staying nice and cozy, they'll opt to take their chances inside the house. If you've got mice in your house in the winter, there's a pretty good chance you've got a snake in your house in the winter.

Just a little sidenote. I read a story once of a superstitious builder who would never release a house to a client until he saw a mouse in the house. He would leave out  food scraps for the mice and would even leave an opening someplace for a mouse to get in. He worried that if a mouse didn't want to live in the house there must be something wrong and he'd stall in finishing the house until he saw a mouse. One of his subcontractors (who wouldn't get paid until the house was settled) figured this out and kept some live mice that he'd release in the house as the work was winding down so the builder would be staisfied and finish the job so the sub could be paid. The superstitious builder would take financial penalties over letting homeowners move into the house before he knew it would sustain life. 

[mistriTsquirrel]

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@ripka junkie wrote:

bosmamaa, about 4 years ago my SIL found snake skin between towels in my guest bathroom.  We live in NC and dohave snakes in the yard but never in the house.  I was livid and cleaned and tossed everthing in one bathroom cabinet.  I went a misson to find something to deter them, and I did. I purchased  a plug in by Bell&Howell thst plugs into your outlet that sends soundwaves to deter.  I purchased 5 of these and they are stilln workiing.  They also deter rats, one of the best products I have ever prchased.

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I had one of those, but had to get rid of it.  It made this horrible sound when I plugged it in.

Should say, "not for squirrel homes" on the package.

[April Showers]

@house_cat   I feel like you do when it comes to snakes!  I have a terrible snake phobia and it's been with me since I was a little girl.  I was raised in NE OK and there were lots of snakes around, but I don't know of anyone ever finding one inside their home!  Yikes!  

We now live in NM and I know they're around, but I've never seen one.  We do have an exterminator that comes on a regular basis.  I read through all of this thread, but it was hard!  Still, the title interested me!  I only like dead snakes even though live ones eat critters we don't want in our homes or yards.  

I admire those of you who didn't lose it when you saw one inside your home/garage/basement!!  

[house_cat]

@April Showers

I used to have snake nightmares when I was very young.  I had them on a regular basis. My mom would come into my room and say, "There are NO snakes in New York City".. and that gave me some comfort, even though I'm not sure it's true.  I lived there for 30 years and never saw one, so maybe it is true.

Now I live in a place where there are snakes.  We had a large house with a large yard that DH would garden so beautifully. I told him when he saw the first snake we'd be moving.  We sold that house after 6 years. I thought we'd been snake free for 6 years, but he told me after we moved that he had seen several.  We bought a town-home now and pay a hefty fee every month for maintenance, which is worth it for me... haven't seen a snake yet in 10 years!

[Citrine1]

The title of this thread sends shivers down my spine.  I just can't imagine living in an area where I would have to worry about keeping snakes out of my house.  Yikes!