Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management Snake Removal from Ponds??

.

Who Does Snake Removal from Ponds and how do you do it?? How successful are you at eliminating Snakes??

Hi

I actually have the same Licenses as Billy The Exterminator on TV. Only I am not the dysfunctional attention seeking Idiot he is. I also believe in Protecting my self with Proper Protective Equipment etc.

I have a a few pond but would like to do more work in aquatics, but I need to up grade my Aquatic education. So far Minnow types traps set with the throat at Water Level have worked for me. I bait them with Tree Frogs I catch on the side of my house. By leaving a light on at night to attract insects for the frogs to eat I have a ready supply. I just hand pick them off the house when I need bait. Placing a styrofoam float in the Trap keeps them alive better since they are a land Frog. Snakes control like all Pest Control need the Habitat modified to unfavorable conditions to be long term effective. Weed Control in the Pond as well surround areas is important for success.

Florida law requires I euthanize any Poisonous snakes on site without transporting them. Under the law I can not just submerge the trap and drown them. It is not considered humane by the state. Using Welder gloves to be safe, I place the Trap into a Plastic Garbage bag and pump CO2 Carbon Dioxide into the bag. The Snake is then buried as a Biohazard.

By telling My method I hoping on Feed Back with improvements as well as other methods. My aquatic experience has only been with weed control and snake removal. I have a narrow ban of knowledge when it comes to aquatics.

That's pretty interesting stuff. Do you ever accidentally catch non-poisonous snakes?

I know next to nothing about poisonous snake control, but I have heard of people buying and releasing King Snakes, which apparently eat a lot of poisonous snakes.

Remmington does a nice job.

Txelen

Sure I catch all kinds of Water snakes in the trap. Even Minnows. In most cases The customer wants those gone also. King Snakes and Hogs will sure clean out an area of snake. But most people don't want either. While I don't use actual Minnow traps, I make my own that are much longer. One trick is to build them out of a solid tube so light only comes in both ends. Or you can cover them the same way. The Idea it to make it appear like a Hollow log with a tasty treat inside.

I have a Nuance Wildlife Removal License and I am a member of trapping Forums. I am not going to tell you I came up with the trap on my own. You might be able to find a U Tube that shows some snake traps. U tube seems to have a video on every subject.

I like your style!

Me too, as I have proven!!

This one made a mistake a few weeks ago. It was in the firepit in front of the house where we had been standing for about 30 minutes before a buddy saw him. Not a good picture and maybe too graphic but check out the buttons on him. I didn't measure him but IIRC he was just over 2 feet long. A Smith & Wesson .357 with rat shot did the trick

I don't have any poisonous snakes on my ponds but occasionally see garter snakes. I welcome them as I have a problem with moles and mice drilling into my banks.

The only pesky snakes we have around here are Blue Racers. They will come right at you, not poisonous, but they will bite! They use to be more abundant while I was a kid.

Good shot. I don't mind them out away from the house but that close is too close.

He was surely longer than 2' wasn't he Cisco?

Did ya eat him? I love rattlesnake!

Almost every weekend there is another one right close to the house. The guy that owned the place before me said you couldn't get close to the house. I think he was just over 2' but he wasn't 3' I know. No CJ, i didn't eat him. Belive me, they don't taste anything like chicken!

Sorry Ric, I didn't mean to hijack your thread. The only way I get rid of snakes around my pond is the Bob-O method. I use the trusty Ruger 10-22. I do catch one in the fish basket sometimes but it's not because I was trying to!

Getting a snake out of a fish trap can be a real character builder.

Leaving the trap fully under water for a few hours tends to slow them down.

I laughed.

I had not one, not two, but three water snakes enter a collapsible mesh fish basket once when I was a young kid. This was before the baskets came with floating plastic lids. Since they couldn't float in the expanded, open position, I always tossed them out on their sides, in shallow water. This usually meant some of the basket stuck up above the surface. The three critters squeezed in between the mesh, and swallowed some small BG I was planning on using for CC bait later that night.

Trouble was, then they couldn't squeeze all the way back out again. I didn't notice their heads sticking up beside the basket, and just grabbed the handle and pulled it out. I must've looked like Perseus holding Medusa's severed head with those squirming snakes writhing around. I dropped it pretty quick. Had nightmares for almost a week.

And now I'll be having them! Thanks a bunch!

Todd, we have rattlesnakes but they are seldom a problem. I never see any snake but rattlers.

At my place, I have a trailer hose. It's under pinned and I never remove it to go under there. We also get a lot of mice. They are a real problem with chewing holes in the wall and getting into stuff.

The snakes eat mice and I appreciate that. At this time I'm not having a mouse problem. That tells me that a rattlesnake is living under there for the winter.