Discover the Top 4 Smells Attracting Snakes to Your Yard

Seeing a snake in your yard can be alarming, especially if you have young children or pets roaming the lawn. Regardless of the type of snake and whether it’s venomous, any snake will lash out and possibly bite if they feel threatened. That’s why it’s important to eliminate the smells that attract snakes to your yard.

Snakes are drawn to various environmental factors and scents, many of which might be out of your control. However, there are ways to mitigate the risks of attracting a snake into your yard. 

Here are the top four smells snakes love.

1. Rodent Droppings

Rodents like mice or rats are the main food source for snakes. Because they’re often on the hunt for food, snakes will find their way to your yard if it’s home to rodents.

While snakes aren’t attracted to human food or garbage, rodents are — and in turn, this might attract snakes, too. Keep your yard as clean as possible to avoid inviting rodents into your space. Even if they’re just passing by, their urine or feces can be a major draw to snakes.

Additionally, citrus itself might not attract snakes (some belive citrus is a snake repellent — it’s not), but growing citrus trees can attract rodents to your yard. Fruit-bearing plants and trees are food sources for rats, mice, and even birds (which are food sources for snakes). If your yard is ripe (pun intended) with such plants, be sure to pick up any fallen fruit before it attracts prey into your yard.

2. Bird Droppings

Similar to rodent droppings, bird droppings can attract snakes to your yard as well. Some snakes will feed on bird eggs, so any scent left behind by birds can grab their attention.

Preventing birds from flocking to your yard is more difficult than rodents, as birds fly freely and come and go as they please. Many will build nests in nearby bushes or trees, which could lead to an abundance of droppings that bring snakes into your space. Even just the scent of a bird nest is often enough to attract certain snakes.

While there’s not much you can do about this issue, you can — at the very least — avoid things like bird feeders and especially bird baths. Bird baths, in particular, will draw snakes to your yard, as water is yet another enticing hydration source for snakes.

3. Amphibians and Fish

Many snakes (water-dwelling or semi-aquatic snakes) are attracted to the scent of fish or amphibians, like toads or frogs. If your yard includes pools of water like ponds or moist environments like lush gardens, it might make the ideal home for amphibians, which, in turn, will call in snakes. 

Snakes often sneak up on their prey, slithering along until they catch a strong scent and can ambush their food source. If you do have a pond in your yard, you can lower the risk of snakes by ensuring it recirculates water, as snakes prefer still water (think waterfalls and fountains).

4. Snake Pheromones

Just as humans are attracted to other humans’ pheromones, snakes are attracted to other snakes’ pheromones. In other words, the more snakes you have in your yard, the more at risk you are of attracting more. 

However, the saying “where there’s one, there’s many” might be true about pests like cockroaches, but this isn’t necessarily the case for snakes. 

Keeping Snakes Out of Your Yard

In addition to the scents above, snakes might be visiting your property for many reasons. Here are a few additional sources that might attract the reptile to your yard.

Keep Your Yard Clean and Dry

Water sources of any sort, from a man-made pond to rainwater sitting in a tire swing, are a major draw for snakes. Any moist environment can attract these critters into your yard, especially if the source is still water. Keep your environment as clean and dry as possible (within reason, of course), and ensure any aesthetic pools of water recirculates. 

Cut Your Grass Regularly

Snakes often look for hiding places when slithering around. Tall, unkept grass makes the perfect protective space for snakes to seek shelter or sneak up on prey. To avoid creating a desired home for these reptiles, make sure you cut your grass on a regular basis and remove any long grass clippings by composting them.

Eliminate or Maintain Bird Feeders and Baths

As mentioned earlier, birds are a source of food for snakes. Attracting birds to your yard with fixtures like bird feeders or bird baths can attract snakes, too. This is especially true if bird droppings build up on or around the feeder or bath.

To avoid attracting birds with these products, keep them clean and don’t let water sit for too long with bird poop and other buildup in the bath. Otherwise, snakes will have a field day with both hydration and food source.

Seal Cracks in Elevated Decks

Similar to tall grass, elevated decks provide a safe, cool hiding place for snakes. This nesting site provides the dark and moist environment that snakes prefer. Additionally, many rodents will often live under decks or porches, which is yet another reason for snakes to create homes in this location.

While you likely won’t change the entire structure of your patio or deck just to avoid this critter, you can prevent them from nesting by filling in any cracks or entry points where snakes can slither through and access the area. 

Elevate or Eliminate Wood and Compost Piles

Stacked wood or piles of leaves and other compost can make a great hiding spot for snakes as well. Whether you’re saving logs for a fire or stacking bundles of leaves during autumn, check for snakes before reaching your hand into any of these piles.

You can decrease the chance of attracting snakes by stacking wood piles off the ground, making them inaccessible. Additionally, don’t keep compost piles for too long; clean up the debris as promptly as possible rather than letting it sit in your yard for too long.

Avoid Loose Stone Walls

Loose stone walls are another desired hiding place for snakes, as they can fit into the holes between rocks and seek shelter from the sun or predators. Additionally, many of these fixtures boast other critters like lizards and insects, which are yet another food source for snakes.

If you want that rustic aesthetic in your yard without the threat of snakes around your home, try to find a place away from your house so you’re not drawing snakes too close. Additionally, be careful when walking in the area so you aren’t caught off-guard by a snake resting in its sanctuary. 

Keep Garden Hoses off the Ground

Not only do garden hoses provide a source of water and hydration to snakes, but they can also offer shelter to them. Many snakes will slither their way into a coiled-up pile of the hose. To avoid this, you can mount your hose or use a reel so it isn’t just resting on the ground. Also, be sure to fix any leaky hoses or faucets, so snakes can’t access the water source.

Maintain Your Garden and Vegetation

As noted earlier, vegetation like citrus plants or other produce can attract small rodents and insects, which can, in turn, attract snakes. While you don’t have to completely forgo your garden, harvesting your produce once it’s ripe and regularly maintaining it will help you avoid the critters.