Snake in the garden: Danger noodle or welcome predator?
Am I the only one who finds snakes rather fascinating, even charming, particularly if the scaly visitor is small and harmless? For every gardener who goes pale over a slithery shape in the grass, surely there are plenty of us whose eyes light up and who lean in for a closer (albeit respectful) look.
Look — nothing scary here, just a little garter snake about the diameter of my thumb. I almost didn’t see it as I tidied up the garden on Monday, as it lay sunning itself among some bleached-out foxtail ferns.
It held very still, even when I got my camera and came back for a closeup. This little guy will eat bugs and other garden pests, earthworms, and whatever else it can catch.
I’ve never spotted a water snake in my stock-tank pond — perhaps the sheer sides deter them? — but I’ve seen several over the years at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s ponds. I think they’re quite pretty with their red and pale-yellow stripes.
I have seen rat snakes in my garden, and they can be more intimidating because of their size and climbing ability, although like garter and water snakes, they’re nonvenomous. They’re beneficial too, dining on pests like rats and mice. I spotted this 5-foot-long rat snake lounging in a bamboo hammock a couple of years ago.
Of course, even with beneficial, nonvenomous snakes, it’s not always pretty. Snakes eat a lot of birds and bird eggs too. Last year a pair of wrens lost an entire nest of chicks to a rat snake that shimmied up the brick wall of the house, stretched out to reach the birdhouse hanging from the eave, and helped himself to the helpless chicks. It was sad but fascinating to observe.
We do have venomous snakes in Texas, and two years ago we spotted one in our swimming pool. A beautiful but dangerous coral snake got trapped in the pool and startled my husband while he was cleaning the filter. Have you ever heard the phrase, “Red and yellow kill a fellow; red and black, friend of Jack”? That’s how you distinguish a venomous coral snake from a similarly colored but nonvenomous king snake. The coral snake proved to be a good swimmer, as are all snakes, but we managed to net it and released it into the greenbelt behind our house. While a bite would require medical attention, coral snakes are reclusive and non-aggressive and just not something I worry about.
Thankfully, I’ve never seen a rattlesnake in my garden, but they are found in Austin, and with a greenbelt behind us I’m always aware of the possibility. I spotted this rattler crossing a road near Chimney Rock, North Carolina, and stopped to take a photo. If I ever found a rattlesnake in my garden I would try to get a trapper to relocate it, or, if necessary, kill it. That’s one snake I’m not willing to share my garden with.
So how do you feel about snakes in the garden, particularly nonvenomous snakes? Can you live with them? Or perhaps this is the only kind of snake you’d feel comfortable with in the garden?
How about this — a happy snake detail on an iron gate in Tait Moring’s Austin garden?
Or maybe this — a spiral snake patio in Keeyla Meadows’s San Francisco garden?
Or this — a snake plant in a snake pot?
Me? I don’t mind them. (Picture from a snake farm in Tanzania, at the end of an African safari.)
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I love snakes, and I loved this post full of photos of beautiful ones you’ve encountered. I might not love them so much if I had ever lived where there were lots of dangerous ones, though. I don’t relish the thought of gardening where I might encounter a rattler every time I reach into a bed to weed. I did let my son have a Burmese python when he was growing up.
Did you? I have questions! Name? Do they live a long time? Did it ever escape? 😉 —Pam
He had it for a few years, and it grew from being a tiny little baby to being almost 10 feet long. No, it didn’t ever escape, but it sure tried, it used to push on the corners of the mesh top of its cage. Actually, I say “it,” but it was a she. Her name was Mirage. I looked online and it says they live to be 20-25 years old. We finally sold her to guy who had a male Burmese python named Elvis. He was going to rename ours as Priscilla and try to mate them.
A 10-foot python is, ahem, a bit scary to have around the house, I imagine. She must have been a good eater! I wonder if there are any Lisa Maries out there now? —Pam
Snakes are always a welcome sight in my garden. But I say that knowing there aren’t any venomous species in my area. If I lived east of the Cascade Mountains or in southern Oregon, I’d have rattlesnakes to worry about. I’m hoping the expanded garden areas bordering the woods will help draw more garter snakes into the garden.
I like them too, Evan. Or maybe it’s fairer to say I find them interesting. —Pam
I have a family of brown earth snakes that have lived in my garden for several generations. I wish I had more. They are so helpful with the bugs.
That’s cool, Chris. —Pam
I have garter snakes in the garden every year. It is always a treat to find them basking in the sun. I have watched them search the cracks in the patio looking for bugs. I don’t think I would be too happy finding a rattler in my garden. Not probable around here. My neighbor called to me over the fence one year and told me to come get the snake out of her yard or she was going to kill it. I was surprised to find a water snake. There is no water around here close and the snake was only about 10″ long. We always wondered where it came from and where it was going. I let it loose on the opposite side of my garden and it was never seen again.
You’re a snake whisperer, Lisa! —Pam
I’m not inherently afraid of snakes but I’m almost always startled when I see one as they’re not all that common here for some reason. The only ones I’ve seen in my own garden have been garter snakes but rattlesnakes are common in a park nearby. Maybe it’s just that lizards rule to roost here – you can’t walk a foot without seeing one of them.
I hope you never find a rattlesnake in your garden, Kris. I’m hoping the same for myself. —Pam
I’ve only ever seen tiny and cute little snakes in my garden, but my next door neighbor has nearly stepped on 3 huge rattlers in her more wooded backyard. We wonder whether they’re drawn in by her chicken coop, because really, you’d think my yard with its deep beds & sunny spots & convenient water sources would be a lot more inviting. But I am happy to let it be a mystery as long as they stay out of my yard!
I would never have guessed rattlesnakes would be in your neighborhood, Lori, even though there’s a greenbelt back there. Yikes! I wonder if it’s the chickens, or maybe there are rats drawn by the chicken waste, etc., and the rattlesnakes are after the rats? —Pam
I don’t mind them and always get a little excited (and startled) when we find them. I did have a friend who is a fellow Master Gardener, who was bitten by a rattlesnake and spent several days in the hospital and even longer recovering. So I try to be aware
That would not be a fun experience. Being aware is a good policy. —Pam
Living on a small lake in northwest Arkansas we see lots of snakes. When we moved here 29 yrs ago I was young & couldn’t even bear to look at a snake. Now, as long as they stay out of my basement garage(a favorite cool hiding spot on hot summer days) or off my porches I can handle them.
We have lots of garden snakes but we have seen water moccasins & copperheads as well. I know we have rattlesnakes in the area but I’ve never seen one & I spend a lot of time walking the wooded trails along the water.
I’m a little more afraid of spiders than snakes though they are about neck-in-neck. We have brown recluse & I know many people who’ve been bitten by them.
I’m with you on the spiders. I tolerate them in the garden and know they’re beneficial, but they creep me out. We did have a tarantula in our house once, and that about sent me off the deep end. —Pam
My sister lives in Shady Hollow in south Austin and last summer heard the rattling of a rattlesnake in her greenhouse, just a few feet away from her beautiful cat! Fortunately her cat got away and she called a wildlife rescue to catch the snake and release it in a more suitable environment than a subdivision! Very scary!
My in-laws used to live in Shady Hollow, next to a greenbelt, and they saw rattlesnakes somewhat regularly in their garden. They finally rattlesnake-proofed their yard. —Pam
We haven’t had snakes since we lived on the mountainside in Camps Bay.
But I was fascinated by artwork, a snake sculpture, last week.
Snakes do seem to make compelling subjects for garden art. I have a few pieces myself. —Pam
I was just pulling weeds and doing some summer landscaping in my front yard this afternoon and was startled by a large garter snake in the mulch under my tree at the end of the house when I turned around! Freaked me out, but then I got curious. I started to approach it and it slithered under a bush. not go nana be weeding out front for a few days! Lol. I’m not a fan of snakes, but they are good to have around (the non-venomous ones anyway). Little danger noodles!