I’m reading lots of posts about pests like deer and mice. In addition to our dogs who seem to deter the deer, I’ve been making friends with our 3 snake friends. This one seems to live in my back raised bed and since we have mice around because we live in the woods, I feel very appreciative of him guarding my food. Is there a downside besides when he startles me at least once a day?
by josaline
11 Comments
I am no snake expert but that looks like a garter snake and I was recently wondering the same thing with a garter snake in my garden. I left a small band of brush for it to get safely around, left some cover for it’s little den. I looked it up and saw that garter snakes don’t really eat rodents but hoped its presence might act as a deterrent. It was neat to see it hanging around either way. Boy was I *WRONG*. The snake had been hanging out in the same area and the next day (THE NEXT DAY!) I saw that I was in the early stages of a vole problem right next to where it was hanging out! Unfortunately, snek did not hold up their end of the bargain and because snake habitat and vole habitat are quite similar I had to kick um’ out.
ETA no sneks were harmed in my wiley coyote outburst. Hopefully a few voles were murdered and those are the only casualties.
Your new friend is a little small to help with the rodents, but it’ll help keep slugs and snails from destroying your plants 😁
Many small-ish generalist snakes (e.g. the garter in your pic) eat slugs & snails, and some insects, but they don’t typically feed on rodents. Some species might raid rodent nests, but generally speaking they’re not gonna mess with mammals. It’s a bit of a wash, because they’re usually also fond of frogs & lizards.
Depends on the exact species, and what your garden has on offer. (For example, in my location a garter would be very welcome — frogs and toads are nowhere nearby, and they wouldn’t be eating lizards, but I *do* have plenty of invertebrate pests).
I know people buy ladybugs for their garden, does anyone sell boxes of large rodent-eating snakes for the garden?
Actually I kind of hope not.
Two garter snake stories. I once picked a Napa cabbage, put it in a ziploc in the fridge, and when I went to use it found a very cold snake in the bag! I opened it gingerly and set the bag outside. Second story – I saw a chipmunk on my chard – I thought he was chewing on it so I chased him away – twice. But he kept coming back and finally ran off with a decent sized garter snake in his mouth! So don’t count on them for rodent issues.
Lucky you! This dude will absolutely help with slugs especially.
lucky!!! I want yard snakes so bad
I love seeing snakes in the garden – seen quite a few this year.
Black snakes are the answer.
With the snails and slugs I got in my garden, I want a few snakes to show up
If you want a species level ID, post on r/whatsthissnake with a rough location. If you provide a general location here, I can probably also provide 🙂