Snakes

[ladyoutlaw50]

Well as most of you may remember my sister had a garter or garden snake in her yard that was freakiing her out a bit -- he would show up in the garage and stuff -- no sightings have been "reported" for a few weeks until last week -- he was sighted eating a frog -- my brother-in-law caught him-- he was about 3 feet long (in my book he was at least 25 ft ) anyway he was moved to the other side of the neighbors place. All appeared to be quiet as far as the snake issue was concerned. Today my sister arrived home to her husband saying he had good news and bad news!! He finally picked up some of the wood and stuff by the basement door and the bad news was he found 2 snakes. He said one was a bit larger then the other one and he wasn't sure if the first one had returned with a friend. The question my sister wanted me to ask all of you is ---is there anyway to deter snakes to stay away?? I am deathly afraid of them, but she makes my fear look silly!! Any suggestions???
I have purchases stilts so that I can walk from my car to her house -- now my fear is now that it is getting a bit colder - what if they decide to come in the house to winter!!
Also when do they breed and how often? Thanks again

[KrytterKrys]

well to deter snakes you can keep shrubs and bushes trimmed at least 6" from the ground, make sure cracks in foundation/patio are sealed(they will hibernate in them), keep grass trimmed, get rid of any mice problem you may have by keeping any food outside(birdseed, dog food etc.) in mouse approved containers, also pick up any boards, siding, anything laying around that they can hide under...rarely if ever will they come inside to winter...in the wild they usually only have babies in the spring, and they are born live..usually being around 3" or so...well i hope this helps, and if its any consolation they really dont hurt if they do bite(which they usually only do if you pick them up, & they wont chase you!) believe i used catch them for fun! and have gotten bitten a few times...if anything they might..they will pee on you, and that def stinks!!..and is hard to get off! :)

[ladyoutlaw50]

Yes that does help -- I do NOT plan on getting close enough for them to pee on me or bite me!!! LOL
I will pass the info to my sister -- thanks again

[gunk]

Yeah just keep everything tidy looking and they won't have any place to hide. If you have to, find someone who isn't afraid of them and have that person relocate them to the woods or something like that. But if you have a lot of small animals (rodents, frogs, etc) in your area, they're likely to turn up from time to time.

But don't worry, garter snakes are harmless. They're more scared of you than you are of them, trust me.