Native to North America, the garter snake species is dispersed all over the continent. A type of snake that belongs to the Colubridae subfamily and is sometimes referred to as Thamnophis sirtalis The majority of the identified subspecies of garter snakes have a pattern of yellow stripes on a background of black, brown, or green, and range in total length from an average of approximately 55 cm to a maximum of about 137 cm. Let’s get started with the subject of the day: what attract garter snakes? Go on reading!
What Attract Garter Snakes?
Even without a water source, you can still draw them in by giving them refuge. Despite their poor reputation for inspiring fear, snakes might be your best friend if you care for a garden. The majority of homeowners who don’t want these snakes in their yards don’t appear to comprehend that they may unintentionally invite them to their own yards.
A source of water will draw garter snakes, but that’s not all there is to it. In the following paragraphs, I’ll go over everything you need to know to draw garter snakes to your property as well as what to avoid doing if you’re wondering why these snakes are constantly about your house.
The following are significant factors that may be drawing snakes to your yard, as well as those that you must put in place if you want to draw garter snakes:
These Are What Attract Garter Snakes
1. Water Supply Sources:
Garter snakes and other snake species appear to prefer and thrive in moist conditions. Even some snake species enjoy spending time near water sources to stay hydrated. This implies that every time it rains and puddles start to form in your yard, snakes may be living there. Even though they are not considered to be water snakes, snakes enjoy swimming in the water to cool themselves. Having said that, any water supply on your land is advantageous to snakes in some way.
Here are two things you can do to prevent snakes from entering your property and lessen the amount of water that accumulates there:
• Raise The Birdbaths You Have
Reduce the likelihood that a snake may enter your birdbath by raising the height and keeping it out of the way. The only difficulty in this situation is that some snake species can easily climb any obstacle.
• Fill Up Lawn Hoses And Keep Snakes Out Of Swimming Pools
These are locations where the grass or ground is unbalanced, allowing water to collect there. To prevent puddles from forming, level off your ground with dirt or soil. Build a tiny barrier around your pond that a snake can’t climb over to deter them from consuming your prized fish. Get rid of everything that may attract snakes from the pools. Additionally, you might wish to cut the grass and bushes near the pond so that snakes have nowhere to hide.
2. High Rat And Bird Populations
Rodents, mice, other small rodents, and birds are common food sources for snakes. The majority of snakes are likely to end up on your property for this reason. Mice typically create burrows underground where they can hide from snakes and other predators. While most mice prefer to settle in empty fields and spaces, some prefer woody regions and plants.
If you have a mouse infestation, it won’t take you long to discover that they have taken over your property. Look for any clear footprints in the grass that can lead you to their burrows. You may also discover mouse droppings, burrows, or holes in the ground.
Clean up your property and make sure there isn’t any leftover food or trash that could attract mice and other rats in the first place if you want to get rid of them. Hire an exterminator, use a mouse trap, seal any holes, and remove their hiding places.
3. Thick Grass And Shrubs Are Present.
Numerous grass snake species prefer to hang out in tall grasses and vegetation. And this is a significant factor in why you might not be aware that you have snakes in your yard until you are eventually bitten by one. Snakes may conceal themselves against predators in a bushy setting, sneak up on prey like mice, and even establish a nest in your yard.
You can solve it by doing these basic steps:
Their hiding location will no longer serve as a camouflage, which will discourage them from settling in your yard.
• Don’t forget to weed-eat.
• Keep plants and bushes pruned.
• Maintain a short lawn.
• When watering your grass, use caution.
4. Plenty Of Cool Places
A snake can better regulate and maintain its body temperature when it is within the appropriate range. This is so that the appropriate climate for a snake can be determined by both its species and its physical surroundings. Snakes prefer to spend the most of their time in darker, more damp, and cooler surroundings since they have a colder blood type. This clarifies why snakes are frequently discovered hidden in your garage, shrubs, shed, and woodpiles.
Fixing this requires concentrating on the parts of your yard that resemble caverns. Each of these places needs to be made even less appealing as a snake habitat.
• Tidy up any vacant areas.
• Decrease the humidity in your shed or garage.
Here Is How To Attract Garter Snakes:
1. Ponds, Log Piles, And Grass
By providing more food and shelter to reptiles and replacing lost habitats, your garden can become more environmentally friendly while still providing some of the most enjoyable wildlife interactions. By allowing some of your garden to grow, you can give slugs and amphibians—two frequent snake prey—a place to live and shelter. Snakes often use the grass as a hiding place, so be careful to give them areas to sunbathe.
2. Splash The Garden With Water
Snakes can also appreciate garden ponds as long as there is at least one shallow border or some rocks that may be used to safely access the water. For the majority of snakes, a little bowl of water placed on the ground is adequate. Snakes frequently need to drink a lot of water because it gets rather hot during the summer. You could also decide to put garbage that gathers water, including old tires, cans, and satellite dishes.
3. Don’t Cut The Grasses Or Shrubs
Predators like cats, dogs, hawks, honey badgers, owls, possums, and velociraptors are kept at bay by dense foliage. Create a lush, jungle-like environment throughout the entire yard. It may also provide shelter for mice, rats, voles, and other rodents that are favorite prey for many snakes, so when there are more rats around, more snakes will appear in your yard.
4. Make A Few Little Hiding Places.
Snakes enjoy hiding out among brush piles, downed logs, and haphazardly stacked rock formations. And the simplest way to do this is to have a little, unorganized garden. Snakes prefer dark, cool conditions for hiding from predators. Taller vegetation, especially grasses, can be useful as hiding places.
5. Create Cozy Spaces
Snakes enjoy lazing around in piles of rotting wood chips, grass clippings, and other organic material that has been exposed to the sun, as well as under black plastic weed-suppressing sheets. Dry-stacked rock piles are wonderful because they offer hiding places as well as shady nooks without the need of mortar. Since snakes are naturally cold-blooded reptiles, they like basking in the sun on hot days.
6. Use Natural Gardening Supplies
You should be aware that if you go from conventional to organic gardening, you may initially lose more plants to bug infestations because chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers can all harm or even kill snakes in addition to their primary feeding source, insects. Most invasive species procreate more frequently than their natural predators.
Summary
By providing them with cover, you can entice them even without a water source. As a result of the fact that garter snakes and the majority of other snake species seem to enjoy and thrive in moist, dark surroundings.
