best way to get rid of snake on property? (outside)

[purbeast0]

like 2-3 weeks ago we saw some snake skin in our backyard right behind a retaining wall. it was pretty small. then like last week i saw a little bit more but thought nothing of it, thought it was the old one. but my wife is all paranoid about it.

then today my mother in law actually saw the snake outside and saw it go into a hole behind the wall. she snapped a pic of it but it's hard to see exactly what kind it is.

but my mother in law didn't want to take my son out there today because she is scared of it and was worried about it. both my wife and her mom are like scared shitless of snakes. i'm not a big fan myself but i realize they usually are more scared of you than you are of them and they will run off.

but, all things considered, it would be best to try and somehow get rid of it. i have no experience with this. is it best to just hire a professional to come out and try to do it? or should i take some steps to try and get rid of it?

a quick reading on the internet says to keep the grass pretty short (been like 2 weeks since i cut it) and to just throw dirt into the holes that they could be moving around in. if i cover the holes with dirt should i have any worry about it popping out while i'm doing so? would these steps be enough to kind of make it just get up and go elsewhere?

where i live i have a small backyard with really no plants either. my back yard has a fence that backs up to another yard of a neighbor and i had neighbors on both sides. it's a pretty residential area so it's not like i have woods behind the house or anything.

just wondering what the best course of action is at this point. i can get the pics too and i'll make on the pics where the snake is because it's hard to see. my mother in law said it was pretty big, but i don't know if she means like 3 feet or like 1-2 feet. it's hard to see from the pics as you will see.

EDIT:

here is the pic, i could only make it out in one pic. i marked it with a red box. it's in the lower part of the box.

http://i.imgur.com/sZeARdW.jpg

EDIT 2:

after googling "snakes in md" i came across a picture of a common garter snake and this is actually what it looks like.

http://farm9.static.flickr.com/8312/7938033354_89f4f3129a.jpg

from my minimal knowledge of snakes they are pretty harmless too.

EDIT 3:

here's another pic, mother in law saw it again this morning.

http://i.imgur.com/UrnNFzN.jpg

weird how we had never seen this now all of a sudden it's active. maybe it had been active in the morning but no one had seen it.

 

[pcgeek11]

Leave it alone. It will only eat pest and is harmless to humans.

 

[lxskllr]

I have a wood pile in my driveway I haven't moved cause a couple garter snakes took up residence in it, and I don't want to bother them. They're cool little critters.

 

[purbeast0]

I have a wood pile in my driveway I haven't moved cause a couple garter snakes took up residence in it, and I don't want to bother them. They're cool little critters.

well yeah but that's a little different than in the middle of your yard where kids run around and play.

 

[Blain]

Spray the hole and along the wall with pepper spray.

 

[lxskllr]

well yeah but that's a little different than in the middle of your yard where kids run around and play.

I have them in my yard too. Tell your kids not to lick them, and wash their hands after handling. Reptiles carry salmonilla, and that's your greatest threat from a black or garter snake.

 

[purbeast0]

I have them in my yard too. Tell your kids not to lick them, and wash their hands after handling. Reptiles carry salmonilla, and that's your greatest threat from a black or garter snake.

my kid is 15 months old and doesn't quite listen that well yet

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I was just at home depot and saw so crystal stuff you sprinkle around, snakes don't like the smell and leave. I'm OK with snakes so I'd leave it but I understand people not liking snakes.
The crystal stuff we put around our planter boxes (different stuff) was advertised as the same thing and it has kept the squirrels and rabbits away.

 

[Raizinman]

Either hot sauce or tabasco sauce sprinkled around will get rid of them. Reapply after it rains.

 

[purbeast0]

added another pic.

http://i.imgur.com/UrnNFzN.jpg

looks very similar to that stock garter snake picture i linked to in the OP.

 

[dphantom]

added another pic.

http://i.imgur.com/UrnNFzN.jpg

looks very similar to that stock garter snake picture i linked to in the OP.

yep common garter snake. as others said, they are great for pest control.

 

[purbeast0]

yep common garter snake. as others said, they are great for pest control.

well we have never had any pests in our yard before. i've been here 4 years now and also never seen any signs of a snake until this past month.

it was weird though, like 3 weeks ago i was cleaning my patio and had my furniture all over the place and when i went to move it back, i noticed a dead baby mouse on the patio. it wasn't there the day before so it happened over night. first time i had seen a mouse or anything outside even.

but i would have thought the mouse would have been swallowed whole if a snake was around. no clue how it died either, there was no bite marks or anything on it.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

well we have never had any pests in our yard before. i've been here 4 years now and also never seen any signs of a snake until this past month.

it was weird though, like 3 weeks ago i was cleaning my patio and had my furniture all over the place and when i went to move it back, i noticed a dead baby mouse on the patio. it wasn't there the day before so it happened over night. first time i had seen a mouse or anything outside even.

but i would have thought the mouse would have been swallowed whole if a snake was around. no clue how it died either, there was no bite marks or anything on it.

A mouse corpse that's not mauled was probably poisoned. Consumer mouse poisons take a long time to kill the mouse. Most work by making the mouse super dehydrated and make them not able to keep water down. They will get desperate and search for water, was there water near by?
I assume its easy to imagine a neighbor having mice in their shed or garage.

 

[NoCreativity]

Spread some moth balls around the perimeter of your yard. Of course you trade a snakeless yard for the terrible smell of moth balls.

 

[purbeast0]

i actually got a video of it yesterday moving around a bit, this time it was in the evening when i was out there grilling and my wife saw it's head pop up behind the ledge lol. it's actually skinnier than i thought it was based on the pics i have posted, unless there are multiple ones. but when looking at the pics again, it might just be the way the pictures are taken that makes it look thicker than when i saw it in person. i think it was because the head is smaller than the body, and when i saw the head popping up i thought it was just a baby. but as it moved and was out in the open in the mulch, it was like 2-3 feet long.

i'll post the video later when i can upload it somewhere.

 

[lxskllr]

Here's one of mine. There's at least two in the wood pile. I'm hoping they have babies so I get snakelings to give out for Halloween. Kids love snakes.

 

[dphantom]

well we have never had any pests in our yard before. i've been here 4 years now and also never seen any signs of a snake until this past month.

it was weird though, like 3 weeks ago i was cleaning my patio and had my furniture all over the place and when i went to move it back, i noticed a dead baby mouse on the patio. it wasn't there the day before so it happened over night. first time i had seen a mouse or anything outside even.

but i would have thought the mouse would have been swallowed whole if a snake was around. no clue how it died either, there was no bite marks or anything on it.

Trust me you have some pests even if you have not seen them. City, suburbs, country does not matter. It's just the scope of the pest problem.

As someone else said, the mouse was probably poisoned and just crawled out from its nest looking for water.

 

[Torn Mind]

Snakes are around because food is around. The last thing you want is a bunch of rodents breeding unchecked.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I saw 2 or 3 this past weekend. A few garter snakes and we had a 5 foot black rat snake get caught in some deer netting. (It got tangled up and died)

Apparently, deer netting is a good way to catch snakes if they're large enough.

 

[Subyman]

I'm with everyone else, just leave him alone. He's going to run from any human activity and go back to his hole. I had my cat bring in a little snake this year and I had to chase it around the house lol. I didn't kill it, just took it back out near the woods and let it go. They are great for the ecosystem. If it was a poisonous snake then you'd certainly want to do something about it.

 

[edro]

Kill it before it kills your kid!!!!

 

[mindless1]

Offer a bounty, whoever catches the snake gets $10. Kids included. Option two, pull out a lawn chair and a 12 pack and just wait it out.

 

[DrPizza]

Serious response: instead of taking a picture of it, run over and catch it with your hands. They are harmless. Actually, having them around is beneficial. But, it's not going to hurt you if you pick it up. Walk a block away and release it. I'm struggling to believe this is a serious thread.

 

[MustISO]

We had one in our garage years ago. Saw one in the spring that was under the deck and I was happy to have it there.

The one in the garage was taken to the woods.
This is the one from the garage:
http://i.imgur.com/mN7Fx9P.jpg

 

[Batmeat]

Gardner snakes - leave them alone. will help with pest. I was exterminator for a while. You can get some stuff from Amazon called Snake Away. It's nothing more than ground cedar chips, sage, and cinnamon. Spread a perimeter of this around your place if you really want to prevent them from hanging around. Problem is if you make the perimeter and they are already there, they will stay within the perimeter you made.