Contact your states DNR, or local county extension office. They may have some tips on what you can do to "help" them move along.

Good luck.

Snakes are a common problem around ponds if this forum is a good sampling. A search here will come up with 878 posts from all forums. It is possible to catch them yourself if you go about it in a confident manner and if the snakes let you get close to them. A Google search will get you specific instructions. Most of the time I ignore them since they keep the rodent population down but if they were after my fish I would consider getting rid of them. If you don't think you can do the job, there is always critter control. Your local Cooperative Extension Service or DNR will be able to supply company names and numbers. Sandy

Good l**d!! now I have to worry about snakes??
jerry10s4s I looked up this snake of yours and I would definately not be jazzed about fetching it out myself. LOL. Sounds like you do want to get them out of there since they eat frogs and ...gasp... fish.

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Thanks for the info so far. There is a canal behind our house and I think the snakes came from there. I'm wondering if I net them and put them back in the canal, will they come back? My fish have been ok so far.
Jerry

Hi
I"ve had a steady parade of snakes ,turtles ,rats ,nutria,raccoons ,opossums. While some were temporarily destructive none stayed for long periods. Snakes in my experience ate some of the frogs but left the fish alone.. Most destructive were red eared turtles would chew up lily leaves . Soft shell would eat a few fish. You could catch some of them but were soon replaced by others lol.
One thing I've never had is alligators (Thank the lord)!! I credit that with a small pond well within the city. There have been some show up in swimming pools .
Imagine coming up on your pool and surprising a 12 foot love sick gator !! All other "problems" would disappear lol gary

Hi Jerry,
You could try putting a couple of minnows in a minnow trap and leaving it where you have seen the snakes. Sometimes large snakes get stuck in those traps. But with a canal behind your house you will always have snakes. We have snakes too and they do take some frogs. So far they have left us and the fish alone but I don't think I could ever keep them out. Just name them and let them be your new pets.
Michelle

There was a canal near our house in Beaumont ,TXas. The cat brought me presents. Guess what ? Sandy

She never wrapped them?

I would totally keep the snakes! Those are cool, wish I had them in my pond.

I'm new at ponding and just found a snake this morning! I just got some goldfish yesterday and am so afraid the snake is after my goldfish. I can sort of 'live and let live' and understand all sorts of critters are attracted to ponds but....
I don't have any frogs that I've seen except a few peepers in the bottom of pots that are not near the pond - I call it that but it's only about fifty +/-... so not much bigger in volume than a half whiskey barrel. Will he eat my fish? Should I try to get him out? Not sure what kind it is. Please help, I'm so disappointed.

If it is the water snake with the orange belly it is very good at hiding. My first one was 3 foot and curled up in my skimmer-what a fright. My neighbor got it out and then a baby one. He ate all my fish and who knows how many of my frogs. I have had many snakes in the 3 years I have had my pond. Black racers, rat and ? I got a snake trap off the internet and caught 5-7 and I left my leaf netting on the ground one year and snakes get traped in it. I found out by smelling something dead and it was a snake-one I had not even seen. Keep that stuff picked up. I don't like killing things even if I don't want them around. My best solution is the 6' snake stick I got off the internet. I have caught 5 snakes so far with it. I feel safe since it is so long and I pick up the snake and drop it into a bucket (I always have a couple handy) and very carefully get the lid closed while I release the handle. I then drive it down about 5 miles and release them into a very large pond.

Wow ellix - sounds like you REALLY had a snake problem. Yikes. You must have a large pond, as I said mine is quite small and after googling images, I decided it's a garter snake but boy, he was in and out of that water (I watched quietly for a long time)like he belonged there. He slithered out of the water, took one look at me and went back in, then a minute or so later, he came out on the other side, curled up in my raised flower bed and just watched me. I still don't know if he's a frequent visitor or would be a threat to my goldfish. They're all accounted for so far but I still worry about them and if I'll even get any frogs which I love and hope to attract to my little water feature. Any advice?

S.A.Rose, we have garter snakes, and they like to swim around in our pond, just like yours - amazing sight! They will eat the occasional goldfish, we know this from seeing Zith (our largest snake) lying bloated in the sun in the branches of the little evergreen... her belly the shape of, guess what, a goldfish...
In our pond though, the goldfish are muyltiplying at such a rate that a little snake-control is welcome.

{{gwi:200374}}

:) Mary

Thanks Mary for the good picture - that looks like it. I sure hope he doesn't eat any of my goldfish - I only have four and lots of places to hide but he sure seems comfortable in the water as well as out. Darn.

I've had garden snakes eat my frogs and the other day DH found one with a snail in it's mouth.Once two snakes were
both on a frog. One had the hind leg and the other had the belly.

If you have a snake like the one in the picture above, they are a problem for your pond. There poop and oil based skin will leave foam on top of the water, and they will definitely "try" and eat your fish. I have Koi. For anyone else who does knows they are not cheap. My biggest "Snoopy" I found dead this morning with little teeth marks above it's fin, bleeding. To me, this means that the snake will brake the laws of nature and try to eat something 10x it's size. It looks as if it realized it was to big and left him there to die. At $100 to 300 dollars a fish, this I can not stand for. I have yet to catch the snake but I dropped some moth balls by my rose marry, where I first saw the snake, to hopefully repeal. I doubt they'll work. Seems all I have left to do is catch and dispose of. Google really comes in handy now adays about anything you need to know about anything. So google snake trap or pest control for the bigger snakes. Hope this helps! I leave more feedback if I ever am able to get ahold of the snake.

Hey there, I'm sorry about your fish. The mothballs won't do anything to the snake. It won't eat them because there is no life to the mothballs. Even an egg would put out heat and a heartbeat to attract the snake. The odor won't attract or repel the snake because snakes have no sense of smell. Several good sites tell how to trap snakes. I hope you will do that and release the snake where it won't cause problems. Where are you located? Can you describe your pond to us?

Big koi with teethmarks to me says raccoon much more than snake. Especially if the fish was found outside the pond. You may have seen a snake and not seen a raccoon but that doesn't mean the snake was the guilty party. Many don't even have teeth to speak of....

If you build a pond, wildlife will come to it. Natural water sources are diminished nationwide do to human buildings/cities. Trying to eliminate wildlife is often futile...

Thank you, I wanted to say the same thing but the poster didn't seem like that would be an acceptable idea so I didn't say it.

I tend to call things as I see them...I have been accused of being too honest...