Snake Removal in Alpharetta, GA

Snakes around your Alpharetta home

Alpharetta yards meet snakes for two main reasons. The Big Creek Greenway and the wooded creek bottoms through town are good snake habitat, and the neighborhoods alongside them share an edge with it. And the landscaping around a large home — deep mulch beds, shrubs along a long foundation, stone walls, woodpiles and the cool, shaded side of a basement wall — gives snakes plenty of cover close to the house. Where there's cover and there are rodents, snakes follow.

The facts are reassuring. Georgia has 47 native snake species, and only seven are venomous; around homes the copperhead is the realistic one. The large majority of calls turn out to be harmless rat snakes. And every non-venomous snake is protected by Georgia law, so killing one is illegal. A snake passing through the yard will usually move on within minutes to an hour if left alone. A snake inside the house is different — that's a call to make right away.

What you're likely to see

Georgia's seven venomous species are the copperhead, northern cottonmouth, Florida cottonmouth, timber rattlesnake, eastern diamondback rattlesnake, pigmy rattlesnake and eastern coral snake. In an Alpharetta yard, the copperhead is the one realistically encountered, and its pattern blends into mulch and leaf litter. Most other snakes found around homes — rat snakes above all, plus kingsnakes, garter snakes and other natives — are harmless and help keep rodents in check. People tend to assume a snake is venomous; it almost never is, but a pro should make the call rather than a guess from a photo.

Protected by state law

Georgia's 40 non-venomous native snakes are protected, and killing one is against the law. Trying to kill or catch a snake is also how most bites happen — the strike reaches farther than people expect, and even an injured snake can bite. A licensed pro removes and relocates non-venomous snakes without harming them and handles venomous ones safely, which keeps you out of range and on the right side of the law.

Landscaping, basements and the creek edge

Snakes come for food and shelter, and overgrowth plus a food source is the combination that keeps them around. On Alpharetta lots that often means thick shrub beds against a long foundation, ground-cover plantings, retaining walls and stacked firewood near the house — places where rodents feed and snakes can hide. Homes backing onto wooded creek land along the greenway see more traffic simply because the habitat runs right up to the yard.

Copperheads near the house

Copperheads favor the leaf litter and brushy edges where lawn meets woods, and they're most active in warm weather, especially around dawn and dusk. The real risk is stepping near one without seeing it — reaching into a shrub bed, moving firewood or walking a mulched path at twilight. If you see a copperhead, keep kids and pets back and let it move off or call a pro. Don't try to handle it.

Inside: call right away

A snake that gets into a garage, basement or living space should be dealt with immediately — the longer it has to find a hiding spot, the less likely it is to be located. Snakes get in through gaps under garage doors, around basement doors and utility lines, and through foundation vents, usually following rodents or looking for a cool place. After removal, the pro identifies and seals the gap it used and points out any rodent activity that drew it in.

When you don't need a pro

Not every snake sighting needs a service call. A snake crossing the lawn or sunning on a patio will usually be gone within minutes to an hour, and by the time anyone arrives it has often moved on. Give it space and keep pets away. Where a pro does help is a snake indoors, a venomous snake that keeps returning to the same spot, or a property that keeps drawing snakes because of rodents and cover close to the house.