Get some snake alerting poultry like Guinea Fowl or turkeys and heed their warnings. Clean up pieces of tin and piles of rocks, brush. Don't go out in the evening without watching where you step and carry a flashlight. I don't have copperheads until July when they come to eat the Cicadas.

We live in a location with lots of copperheads. We're in the middle of the woods, on top of a small ridge with lots of rocks as you go down off the ridge. Good soil on top of the ridge for gardening, but lots of rocks elsewhere. Perfect for copperheads.

Year before last I killed 21 copperheads in a three week period. I believe there was a large female in an old storage shed which had babies and then came into heat, drawing in the males. Several nights I killed three snakes each night. Pretty amazing actually.

To thin out the copperheads in your area make it a habit to go out every night for several weeks with a spot light and a machete (or a shovel, if you prefer more distance between you and the snake). They are very easy to spot at night. It is best following a rain. That is, if you are blessed with rain.

I know a lot of folks get the heaby jeebies around snakes, and especially poisonous snakes. Think of it this way, do you prefer to come upon one unaware, or at a time of your own choosing (while armed with appropriate snake killing paraphernalia)? I prefer to hunt them, rather than to stumble up on them.

I only do this around my house. Far from the house, the snakes are free to do as they like. They have an important job in nature, and I believe they should be left alone when they are not near people. Live and let live, until I find them in my garden.

Time to buy a mongoose.

I agree with Scott. If I had children who were in danger, I would hunt them at night. I can not stand to see one that gets away in my yard. I have to find them or I dream about them. An adult should do the hunting and should have on boots. I have some rubber boots; I hope they are high enough. In the day they blend in to their surroundings; they are under something and you may see them when you are weeding or moving rocks or something they are hiding under. At night they are stretched out in the open looking for insects and they show up clearly. Scott I'll bet it is insects that draw them 21 in a three week period. I always wondered why I get them in July so I cut one open -all that was in it was Cicadas 14 of them end to end. I haven't found an organic way but I put tick granules under the elm where most of the Cicadas emerge and now I see fewer copperheads. I know I still have them because of paranoid Puffy the cat. He is very jumpy around my front step and I know it is snakes.

Organic, huh? Well, I like a 22. If my aim was not good then I would try a moving van. Can't stand snakes!

Most effective organic deterrent I've found is a king snake. Growing up we had one in our feed building that was about 6ft long. My mom found out and had it killed, and almost immediately we were over run with rattlers, copperheads, and cotton mouths. Before that, we never had a single one in our yard.

We have kept snakes at bay by sprinkling moth balls in and around our chicken coop. Until we did this, we were dealing with lots of snakes. The moth balls seem to lose their effectiveness after a rain, so it's good to put out a fresh supply then.

Please do not use moth balls! If you will search this forum you will find a lot of info on the dangers of moth balls.

Snake away has naphthalene in it.

Glad I found this forum, although haven't really read anything that will help me. I have a house out in East TX and found the first cooperhead of the season. Well actually 5th one but the other four were so tiny I didn't realize what they were (thought they were lizards) until I found the big one.
Killed it with a shovel but I am concerned because I have a 9 year old and 3 small dogs. The kid knows not to be poking around in the garden but the dogs just go about everywhere, one of them is so curious I think he would try and play with the snake if he came upone one.
I'm not one for killing so I'm also looking for something organic...I've read moth balls, sulphur and kitty litter all do the trick., Also found a site that says solar repellents are best. Anyone every try this? I've included the link.

Any and all information is appreciated.

Here is a link that might be useful: Solar Snake Repellent

msalcido years ago we had kittens playing around the house foundation. Two were bitten and both recovered. These were little 6 to 8 week old kittens. One had a paw three times normal size and one had a swollen head. In those days we didn't take our animals to the vet. We had another adult cat bitten on the face and it also recovered without treatment. I would be concerned for your 9 year old child. Poking around the garden is only one way to get bit. Copperheads come out in the evening where you can step on them. They don't run away they just lie still. If I were you I'd get a long hoe and kill the snakes. They don't belong in your yard. I would be afraid of moth balls; what if the curious dog ate them? The snake bite would be safer than that.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with napthalene, just don't eat it, stick it in your mouth, stick it up your nose, or carry it around in your pockets for 10 or 20 years.

If you fear it then take a chemistry class or two and stretch your mind a bit. Just obey a few rules.

Don't stick it in your mouth -- would you chomp down on the exposed copper end of an electrical cord plugged into an outlet? No, you wouldn't. Why think of doing the same with napthalene? In any case, snakes probably care less about moth balls. They are not insects trying to lay eggs in a coat pocket.

Let's move on to solar snake repellents. If you get a magnifying glass and focus the beam on a snake, you will probably get its attention. In a negative way. Other than that, your chances of getting the sun to stop a snake are rather remote.

King snakes and other predatory snakes are good ways to control other snakes. Also good in varying degrees are peacocks, hawks, and guinea hens. Peacocks are not worth the trouble, trust me on that, and hawks without a great deal of training are ever-so-pesky to control on demand; guinea hens are spotty in the snake department. Guineas are downright courageous when it comes to 5-inch garter snakes, but with big copperheads? They aren't as stupid as you may think. As pointed about above, a mongoose is also a good way to deal with snakes, but you will probably have difficulty with import permits.

The fact is, snakes are with us. The common--and poisonous--varieties are not endangered no matter how many are killed by people every year. The best ways to get rid of snakes are (a) to live in a central city area, or (b) move to a high rise, or (c) move to Ireland. In central city areas there are few snakes because of habitat destruction. In Ireland there are no snakes because St. Patrick, sometime between 387 and 480 A.D. commanded them to leave and they all jumped into the Irish Sea. Honest. It's true. At least that's what legend says.

Did I mention Welsh Terriers? I should. Some Welsh Terriers are great at dealing with snakes. They hate snakes and go after them with a passion. They also love to go after rats, moles, gophers, squirrels, and other rodents (which attract snakes). Welsh Terriers aren't all that good at going after squirrels, but then few dogs are. No biological system is perfect.

No matter which system you choose, remember this: Only St. Patrick was 100% effective.

Best of luck,

--Robert

P.S. Beware of any and all advertisements for products people might direct you to on these pages. Any. And. All. They might seem sincere, but really all they are trying to do is scam you and get you to part with your money.

Solar snake repellents? Pleeeeez. Give me a break, as they say. Craigslist every day is full of advertisements for people to spend their time combing through these boards dropping product advertisements into the conversation.

I've had pretty good luck with peacocks, although even with peafowl and guineas they let a few bull snakes slip by. The only thing I don't like about bull snake is that they will swallow even a very large chick, as in 3/4 grown I wouldn't be surprised if they could eat a whole , small Bantam.
When I move back to the country, I plan on going back to raising a variety of poultry, especially since I'm feeding my dogs RAW now. I love peafowl and can usually make a fair amount of money selling their chicks during the summer. I'll raise guineas, bantams, ducks and regular chickens, to feed the dogs and get some eggs, meat for the family.
No, we won't be eating the peafowl! I just like them to look at and chase the snakes!

Robert,

There are no snakes in New Zealand either(no land snakes, they do have sea snakes). It sounds like they have a really nice climate there too. Very tempting to this snake hating garden lover.

Jo