Country World

We live in the country and have a creek with woods and pond directly behind the house.
Water moccasins are very common back there. Does anyone have suggestions on getting rid of them - such as a natural enemy - other than me?

I have heard a few things.... not a professional here, but just willing to pass this on....

Black Snakes - I've heard black snakes (which are not poisonous) will discourage moccasins from taking over an area.

Cats - I got two cats when living at our last house. That female cat caught every type of snake you could imagine. She'd bring home 10-pound wood rats from a dairy barn, snakes, frogs, gophers... you name it, she didn't let it onto the property. Not any old cat'll do for this type of work. You want wild ones that might be a little stand-offish at first. I always go to farms and chase the meanest one I can find. Put it in a crate for a few days, feed it, pet it (welding gloves recommended), and eventually it can learn to like you okay, but keep that feral attitude that makes it such a good hunter. There are groups that adopt out feral cats. Visit www.BarnCats.org for more on that. BTW, I prefer the females. The males always end up turning into big babies and sleeping all day (ohhh how they imitate men, haha). Make sure the cats are spayed or neutered!

Moth balls - If you are trying to keep them from coming in the house.

Gasoline and ammonia also work, but can be dangerous.

If I think of anything else, I'll visit again. That's all I've got for now. Good luck!

I don't know about how to get rid of them, though I grew up on the lake. I know anytime my dad left out old tires there would be a surprise waiting when he went to toss them months later. We were lucky but a good friend wasn't as lucky and got bitten and ended up in the emergency room. While I haven't seen moccasins recently, I did have an experience with a rat snake a couple years back that scared the be-jesus out of me.

It was Mother's Day and I was having a horrible day because my kids were being rotten (you know, typical teenagers) and kept playing practical jokes on me. I went out to the car to search for something and dropped my keys on the driveway. When I bent down to grab them under the car, there was a big black rubber snake. I reached for it, quietly cussing my boys for another bad joke, when it struck at me. I scaled that car and stood on the roof for a good 20 minutes before I came down and made sure it was gone.

It was a 4 foot long rat snake - black with a yellow belly - and completely harmless. Well, mostly anyway.

I grew up on a farm as well and had to be cautious of snakes, especially in the hay barn. Our biggest threat was copperheads. We never found out how to keep them out of the barns, but we noticed that our neighbors that had guineas (the dumb birds that always run out in the road) never had a problem with snakes. We also had a problem with those big snakes in the chicken coupe stealing eggs. They never seemed to be aggressive, but we would get rid of them anyway. Other than chopping their head off with a hoe, we would sacrifice two eggs and setup a trap to capture the snake. By setting an egg on each side of the chicken wire gate, the snake would swallow one egg whole, then go through the gate and swallow the next egg. The snake would then become trapped half way in the gate. It worked for us, so maybe it will work for you.