How to Safely Handle and Remove Snakes

Snakes can be found almost everywhere across the globe. If your home borders open fields or you maintain a lush yard packed with blooming flowers, tall grass, and insects, your chances of crossing paths with one are naturally higher. Spotting a snake outdoors usually signals a thriving local ecosystem, but finding one near your patio—or worse, inside your living room—can be unnerving.

Here is a practical guide on how to safely encourage snakes to leave your property and what steps to take if one manages to sneak indoors.

Part 1: Managing Snakes in the Yard

1. Encourage non-venomous visitors to move along. Most garden snakes are harmless and actively hunt mice, slugs, and garden pests. If you are confident the snake is non-venomous, you can gently prompt it to find another hunting ground.

• Use a gentle stream of water: Spraying the snake from a safe distance using a garden hose is often enough to convince it to slither away.
• Use a long-handled pool skimmer: Carefully scoop the snake up without pinching or injuring it, then carry it to a wooded area or an overgrown field far from residential lots.
• Gently nudge it with a long stick: A calm, steady nudge from behind can steer a small, harmless snake toward the edge of your property.

2. Set up humane catch-and-release traps. Commercial funnel traps are enclosed plastic boxes designed so a snake can easily enter toward bait but cannot turn around to escape. If you set one outdoors, inspect it every morning. Once a snake is caught, transport the closed box to a nearby forest preserve or open natural area and release it unharmed.

Part 2: Removing a Snake from Inside Your Home

1. Call professional wildlife removal if you suspect danger. Never try to handle a snake yourself if you cannot identify the species or if you live in an area known for venomous varieties like copperheads, rattlesnakes, or vipers. Even baby venomous snakes carry potent venom.

• Isolate the room immediately: If the snake is in the bathroom or a bedroom, back out slowly, close the door, and place a rolled-up towel firmly along the bottom gap to prevent it from escaping into the rest of the house.
• Keep pets and children away: Ensure family members and pets stay well away from the sealed room until professional help arrives.
• Seek immediate medical attention if bitten: Even if a bite seems minor, have a medical professional evaluate it right away.

2. Safely capture and relocate a harmless indoor snake. If you know for certain that the snake is a harmless house visitor (such as a garter snake or rat snake), you can guide it out using simple household items:

• Use a broom to gently sweep the snake across the floor toward an open bucket or plastic storage container.
• Alternatively, place an overturned trash bin or tall bucket over the snake so it cannot bolt.
• Carefully slide a stiff piece of cardboard or plastic sheet under the rim to enclose the container.
• Keeping your hands well clear of the edges, transport the container outside and release the snake away from your house.

3. Provide a clear escape route. If you spot a snake in your garage or an entryway leading outside, you may not need to touch it at all. Shut all interior doors leading into the main house, open the exterior garage door or patio exit, and give the snake space and quiet. In most cases, it will look for the nearest dark, quiet path back outdoors.

4. Use glue traps only as a monitored last resort. Adhesive boards placed along baseboards in basements or crawl spaces will trap crawling intruders, but they require careful and humane handling:

• Glue traps can severely distress or injure an animal if left unattended, so inspect them daily.
• Never leave an animal trapped to starve or suffer.
• To release a stuck snake safely, carry the trap outdoors in a tall container. Pour common vegetable oil over the snake and where its skin meets the adhesive. The oil breaks down the glue within minutes, allowing the snake to free itself and slither away into the wild.