PK-W10 · Nuisance wildlife

How to get rid of snakes around buildings

Serpentes (various, often Colubridae)

Most snakes at a US foundation are nonvenomous rodent hunters. The pest is usually the rodent program you skipped. Control is exclusion, reducing cover (mulch, debris), and leaving nonvenomous snakes alone if you can. Venomous snakes are a specialist removal — not a shovel hero moment. This site will not publish how to kill snakes for entertainment. If bitten by a venomous snake: emergency care, not a tourniquet folklore. Identify with a photo from a safe distance. Do not collect rattles as souvenirs from a live animal.

Nuisance snake (around buildings) (Serpentes (various, often Colubridae)) — identification photo
Identification photo of Nuisance snake (around buildings) (Serpentes (various, often Colubridae)). Use this with the notes below — size, color, and markings matter more than a single photo, and look-alikes are listed in the sidebar.

How to identify Nuisance snake (around buildings)

  • Regional: learn your venomous species from state wildlife pages — head shape folklore is unreliable.
  • Shed skins, tracks in dust, a snake in a garage after rodent activity.

Signs of an infestation

  • A snake on a porch after you had mice.
  • Sheds in a crawlspace. Rodent evidence plus a predator.

Biology and why they show up

Ectotherms using cover and rodent prey. Seasonal activity. Some species den in foundations.

Health and property risk

Venomous bites in range. Nonvenomous bites if handled. The bigger household issue is often the rodent infestation that invited them.

Proven control sequence

Work in this order. Skipping inspection or exclusion is why most “treatments” bounce back in a week.

  1. Fix the rodents and the cover. Exclusion, less debris, door sweeps. The snake is frequently the symptom.
  2. Venomous: specialist. Do not pin a rattlesnake with a tool from a video. Call a permitted remover.
  3. Nonvenomous: leave or professional relocate as law allows. Many states restrict take. A snake hook amateur hour ends in a bite.

Prevention that actually sticks

  • Seal, reduce rodent food, keep grass shorter near play areas in venomous country.
  • Watch where you put hands and feet in the Southwest and South.

When to hire a licensed professional

Venomous species, always. Crawlspace dens. Bite: ER.

Legal and safety notes. Many snakes are protected. Rattlesnake roundups are a cultural issue this educational site will not promote. No gasoline in holes. Follow state wildlife codes.

United States and Tier 1 notes

Learn local venomous list: rattlesnakes in much of the West and some East, copperheads in the East, cottonmouths in the Southeast, coral snakes in parts of the South. UK adders are a different clinical and legal world.

Common questions

Will mothballs keep snakes out?

No reliable evidence, and a poisoning risk. Seal and reduce prey.

Sources

Written by the Pest Kill Editorial Team. Published August 25, 2026. Last reviewed September 13, 2026.