Yikes! A snake!

[Night Elf]

My DH said he didn't know if he should tell me or not but there's a king snake living in our garden bed. So I looked out the window and can clearly see the hole in the ground between the flowers. And I was just standing there watering those flowers yesterday! If I had seen that snake I would have totally freaked out. So now I told DH he's responsible for watering the flowers. I'm not going back out there. As it is, I don't do any yard work because there are snakes and creepy crawly things and frogs. Now I can't even go into my garden bed. I hate snakes! I mean I'm terrified of them! I told him I'd call a realtor first thing in the morning but he is confident it won't move into the house. It's too darn close to the house now! Egads!

[Katy]

That's good!  The reason they are called King Snakes is that they scare off other snakes.  You won't see a rattle snake or any other poisonous ones as long as it lives in your yard.  And it will eat mice and other rodents and you won't see them either. Think of it as a friendly enemy of all the bad snakes.

[Spryte]

Yes!  To the PP.  We had a huge king snake who liked to hang out here.  A neighbor killed it (we were so sad) and then the copperheads came.  Oh my.  Three of them, in a few weeks.  Luckily, we have our friendly snakes back this year and have not seen a copperhead again.  The king snakes and black snakes really are beneficial.

 

Though I’m sorry you won’t enjoy your garden now.  

[Dmmetler]

King snakes don’t just scare off other snakes-they eat them :). If you remove snake food sources and habitat so that other snakes and rodents are less common, the king snake will move on to provide pest control elsewhere.  In general, snakes like brush and rock piles, low to the ground shrubbery, and rodents. Rodents like similar habitats, spilled pet food, grain and seeds, etc. The king snake is unlikely to move into your house unless you have food for him there, so unless you have an infestation of rodents (and other snakes), he’ll stay in the garden.

Kings are good neighbors. Please don’t kill him. If your yard doesn’t need him anymore, he’ll move to where he is needed. 

[Pawz4me]

I saw a black snake in our neighbor's yard a couple of weeks ago and was so happy! Hoping he/she will keep the copperheads away.

[regentrude]

King snakes are awesome and very beneficial. They eat other snakes and rodents. And unless your house is infested with rodents and snakes, they have no interest in moving into your house 

[Night Elf]

Ok, ok. But I'm still not going out there. ?

[Pink and Green Mom]

I haven't stepped foot out of my pool cage and into my backyard for 5 years due to a black racer snake.  Terrified and petrified of him/her.  I feel your pain completely.

[PeachyDoodle]

Well, two weeks ago, we had 4 snakes in the immediate vicinity of our house within 24 hours. One was on our deck, one was near the brush pile, one was in our garage (he was after the bird's nest full of eggs but dh politely escorted him back to the woods). The last one was in our basement office -- that one we discovered the next morning. Kitty had gotten to him overnight. We thought at first it was a copperhead (!) but when dh took it outside he determined it was not venomous. Thank goodness.

I only worry about copperheads around here, and only because ds plays outside so much.

[Selkie]

Someone we know recently found a large snake in the bathroom of their weekend getaway home. They had a wildlife removal company come out, but the snake was nowhere to be found. So there is a big snake slithering around somewhere in their house, but they don't know where!!! ?(where's that fainting emoji when I need it?) 

I would be having such a nervous breakdown.