Snake Removal in Commerce, GA

Snakes around your Commerce home

Commerce sits in the middle of farm country: pasture, hayfields, chicken houses and fence rows grown up in brush. Mice and rats live in all of it, and snakes follow them. In town, a mill house raised on piers gives a snake a cool, shaded space under the floor, and if the skirting has gaps, the mice living down there are an easy meal. That's why people in Commerce find snakes by the porch steps, along the foundation and in the garden.

Here's the reassuring part. Our crew says about nine out of ten snake calls are harmless rat snakes, and maybe one call in a hundred is actually venomous. Georgia has 47 native snake species and only seven are venomous; near a Commerce home, the venomous one you could realistically see is the copperhead. And every non-venomous snake is protected by state law; killing one is illegal. If a snake is outside, it will usually leave on its own within a few minutes to an hour. If one is inside the house, call right away.

Outside? Usually just leave it alone

A snake crossing the yard or sunning on the driveway is almost always passing through. In most cases it's gone within an hour, often before a technician could get there, and you would still be paying for the trip. Keep kids and pets back, watch where it goes, and give it room. The calls that need a pro are a snake inside the house or garage, one that keeps showing up in the same spot, or one you believe is venomous.

Under a raised house

Many older Commerce homes sit on brick piers, with the crawlspace closed in by lattice, tin or block that has loosened over the years. If a mouse can get under there, so can a snake. The crawlspace stays cool in summer, and if mice are living there, the snake has food. A snake that keeps turning up along the foundation is usually using a gap in the skirting. Closing that gap with metal screening, and dealing with the mice, does more than any spray.

Most of them are rat snakes

The snake most often found around a Commerce house is a rat snake, which climbs well and eats mice, rats and eggs. You may also see kingsnakes, which eat other snakes including copperheads, and small garter and brown snakes in the garden. They're harmless, they keep the mouse population down, and they're protected. People often mistake them for something dangerous, which is why snakes are the animal homeowners misidentify most.

The copperhead

Of Georgia's seven venomous snakes, the copperhead is the one realistically found near homes here. It likes leaf piles, mulch, firewood stacks, brush along fence rows and the edges of woods, and its pattern blends in well. It's most active in warm weather, especially around dusk. If you think you've seen one, keep people and pets away and call a pro rather than trying to kill it. Most bites happen when someone tries to kill or move a snake.

Killing a harmless snake is illegal

Georgia law protects all of its non-venomous native snakes, and killing one is a violation. It's also risky: a snake can strike farther than people expect, and even a snake that looks dead can bite by reflex. A licensed pro identifies the snake from a safe distance and removes it without hurting it. Harmless snakes are relocated, not killed.

Make the property less inviting

Snakes come for two things: overgrowth and food. Keep grass cut short near the house, clear brush and junk piles, stack firewood away from the walls and up off the ground, and don't leave pet food or spilled feed outside where it draws mice. Close gaps in skirting, ground vents and garage doors. A pro can point out where a snake is getting in and what's drawing it, so the next one has less reason to come.