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Not
everyone has to contend with learning how to deal with a garden snake,
if that’s you, then, lucky you! We are becoming quite experienced in
finding and preventing snakes in our house garden.
Where we now live there are
* Brown
snakes - Pseudechis australis
* Tiger snakes - Notechis scutatus
* Copperhead snakes
* Redbellied black snake
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Learn
how to avoid having a snake problem in the first place.
This
is a MUST
SEE
part of my site if you are worried about garden snakes
Snake
FAQ Part 1 AND
Snake
FAQ Part 2
Here
I have photos of places where snakes love to live, especially
around the home. There is too much information for one
page so I have spread it out over two pages.
Make sure you
look at both pages PLEASE as there may be something of vital
interest to you on one of them. |
All of
the snakes in my area are extremely venomous – all are in the top
ten most venomous in the world.
Snakes need food, shelter and water.
Learn how to
keep your garden free from mice, rats, frogs, water, ponds etc then
snakes will go elsewhere. We spend a lot of energy making sure the house
garden is free of any mice friendly places.
If
you are interested in knowing what species of garden snakes live in your local
area you can find them here for the US.
Check here to see a list
of Australian snakes.
Locate
a Certified Snake Catcher
When
we first realised they were so abundant we were very worried as we had
no experience with them at all. I phoned the local Council and got the
names of local Certified Snake Catchers and placed their names
and phone details on the fridge – just in case!!!
Most people who get
bitten by a common garden snake are in the process of trying to catch or
kill it - take extreme care.
Snakes
in Australia are Protected Species
There
is a $5000.00 fine for killing or injuring a snake intentionally
- with effective management there is no need to harm a garden snake,
you just need to be organised in advance.
Be Prepared for Emergencies
Get the names of the Certified Snake Catchers and have their
details always on hand, we leave ours on the fridge door. I found the
guy who helped us to be really informative and he certainly gave us more
ideas on making the place snake unfriendly which has reduced their
numbers considerably.
Our
pets and snakes
Check
out the requirements for your pets and be prepared for that as they often
get bitten first.
Our
dogs and cat have encountered snakes while living here on this
property. They have all reacted differently and you can see more of
their snake stories below with these links.
Cat
snake bite does not seem as deadly as dog snake bite here in
Australia.
I am not sure if that statistic is true in other
countries. It is now the last week of summer and our local Vet told
me this week they are still averaging one dog and one cat arriving at the
surgery each week. They have great success with the cats and not so
great with the dogs. Our main form of defence is prevention.
But if the worst happens and one of our pets does get bitten by a snake
this is our strategy.
1. We found out about using
Vitamin C for dog snake bite. We will certainly follow this as
our fist action.
2. We will also go to the Vet as
quickly as our car can get us there
See
here for information on how our GIANT SCHNAUZER has encountered snakes.
Our
BOXER RESCUE DOG has a very different approach to copperhead snakes.
Our
19 YEAR OLD CAT is a great snake finder.
For
your own safety and First Aid
Check
out the First Aid procedures and buy Snake Bite First Aid kits. We
have one kit in each car and one at both the front and back doors. We
NEVER go walking out into the open paddocks in summer without carrying
one of the kits.
We are always on guard over the warm summer months, we
NEVER take chances or risks with our own lives or that of our pets. See
how we handled our first encounter with a snake. For us it
was a day we will never forget.
You can live in the
countryside and have a garden snake around so long as you become
educated and make smart choices about your environment. Snakes are
very much part of life in rural Australia, you have to accept that.
They
certainly make an unusual garden pest and stories of our adventures with
them keep our city friends enthralled - it might also explain why they
prefer to visit us in the cold winter months.
I
do hope this garden snake information part of my site is useful for
you. It is the collection of a few years experience.
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