Garden Snakes
While garden snakes are usually harmless when it comes to the varieties that can be found in gardens, few people can say that they are comfortable with their existance. Besides the normal reaction of people that don't know which garden snakes are venomous and which are not, they can prove to be especially unwelcomed if you have a small pond in your backyard. The turtles and fishes that you may have there are not safe when it comes to garden snakes.
One good sign that you have garden snakes is their skin left behind when they shed, as they can hide quite well and people don't see them so easily. The usual varieties of garden snakes aren't dangerous to people and animals, and in fact they are scared of them. They will run when you approach, but they can still prove a nuisance to smaller pets.
Getting Rid Of Garden Snakes
Still, there are a few things you can do to protect your backyard from snakes. For starters, build a snake proof fence. It should be 3 feet tall above the ground and 6 inches deep into the ground, made from heavy galvanized screen and without any vegetation around it. Another thing you can do is taking out from the garden any things that can be used by snakes as shelter, like logs or rocks.
If you don't have these protections and snakes enter your garden, contact the local animal control agency or a pest control company to get rid of them.
Some of the most common varieties of garden snakes are gartner snakes, rattlesnakes and gopher snakes. If you're a gardener you should learn the differences between them and how to recognize one. Just because most of the times are harmless, it doesn't meen that you can't find one that is venomous.