Hi, I know Garter Snakes are excellent for natural pest control for the garden, how can I attract and keep them close to the garden. Just wondering if anyone had any knowledge or experience. Enjoying this early start to the growing season here on Vancouver Island. Thanks, Nick
Don't use chemicals on your garden, they kill the snakes food source and possibly them too. They need a place to hide from you and other predators like hawks or owls, a propped up rock or board or piece of metal somewhere out of the way. Be sure to walk through your lawn before mowing, they will hide then you don't have to worry about running the lawn mower over them. They also will need water, a shallow tray of water on the ground would give them easy access.
We built a boardwalk in our back yard, and the garter snakes love it, they live underneath and we have a lot of them.
First time ever I heard of anyone wanting to attract snakes...I would of loved to have given you all of my garter and pine snakes when we lived in the country. Even my dogs would jump when one slithered in front of them in the grass....I would usually hear and see them when I was down on my knees gardening and the neighbors knew when I spotted one by the shriek they would hear... One day, I think I had seen at least 8 of them, I told my husband I was going inside to get away from them. Had 2 in the house when we lived there....I always would pull my covers way back to check and make sure no snakes were in bed with us...
Ms Kitty....I was petrified of the first snake that got in the house....lucky for me the cat had played with it and it was slow...so I went to the firepit and got the pitch fork and used it to pick up the snake....I did have to clean off the fork marks from the carpet but at least the snake was gone. The second one that got in I just put a pail over the top of it and a weight so the dogs couldn't tip it over and waited for my husband to get home.... but like I said above, I made sure I checked my bed every day. We would of moved if I found one upstairs in the house, downstairs was tolerable.
We still had mice, voles and we had plenty of snakes. The pine snakes were really long and big. We lived near a swamp and I think that is what drew them to the area. For slugs, G.Alive has chemical free alternatives and they work. Use beer also for slugs too (drown them in it ) and break up some clean egg shells dried in the microwave spread around plants...I am sure you can find some ideas to help until you get your snakes...
