Snakes

The most common garden snakes species is the Gartner snake, living mainly in the Americas in almost all climates. Yards, fields, forests and ponds are part of its favorite homes, which is why a garden makes a perfect location for such snakes. They can be recognized by three yellow horizontal stripes along their body; they are small and skinny, feeding on fish, frogs and earthworms. In turn garden snakes become prey for other animals like raccoons and owls. Do not touch such garden snakes, although they are not venomous, they bite in defense.

In North America Gartner or garden snakes hibernate in large groups, and it is during this period that many people collect them as pets. In certain parts of the continent a decline in the garden snakes population has been noticed, not only because of pet collection but also because of an imbalance in the habitat caused by pollution in aquatic areas. Concerning the variety of subspecies identified as garden snakes, field guides often provide incomplete data and even taxonomists do not agree in all points of view concerning the risk or safety of these snakes in human proximity.

For people who’d like to keep garden snakes away from their house premises, there are all sorts of repellents available in stores. The risk exists when you live in an area where both venomous and non-venomous snakes live and you find it difficult to make a distinction between them. Even so, you should be aware of the fact that keeping snakes out of the garden is pretty challenging and not 100% effective. Most experts advise that you let them be unless you come across them on a very frequent basis.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!