Snake Removal in McDonough, GA

Why snakes turn up around McDonough homes

Snakes go where there's shelter and food. Around the older houses near McDonough's courthouse square, shelter means the open spaces between the brick piers under a raised house, firewood stacked against a wall, old brick or stone edging, and planting beds that have been filling in for decades. In the newer subdivisions it means the wooded strips and drainage areas left between lots, brush along the back fence, and the edge where a yard gives way to uncleared land. Food means rodents, and both kinds of neighborhood have plenty.

Most snakes people find turn out to be harmless. The large majority of calls are rat snakes, and maybe one call in a hundred involves a venomous snake. Georgia has 47 native snake species, and 7 are venomous. Around McDonough the one that realistically shows up in a yard is the copperhead. Every non-venomous native is protected by state law, and killing one is illegal.

Brick piers, crawlspaces and old beds

Many of the older homes near the square sit up off the ground on brick piers, with a crawlspace underneath. If the gaps between piers aren't closed in, or the lattice has fallen apart, a snake can slide underneath into cool, dark shelter with mice and rats close by. Old brick borders, rock walls and thick ground cover that has grown in over many years add more hiding places right up against the house.

The edges of the newer subdivisions

In McDonough's newer neighborhoods, the snakes usually come from the edges: the strip of woods behind a row of houses, a drainage swale, a lot that hasn't been built on yet. Leftover brush piles, landscape timbers and pine straw beds give them somewhere to rest between hunts. Keeping the yard edge trimmed and the brush cleared doesn't guarantee anything, but it makes your yard a worse place for a snake to stop.

Rat snakes, kingsnakes and the rest

The snake you're most likely to see around McDonough is a rat snake: long, dark, a good climber, and a steady eater of rodents. Kingsnakes are worth having around, since they eat other snakes, copperheads included. Garter snakes and small brown snakes stay low and eat worms, slugs and insects. None of them is a danger to you, and all of them are protected.

Copperheads

The copperhead is the venomous snake that does well around homes in this part of Georgia. Its tan and copper bands blend into leaf litter and mulch, so the risk is reaching into a bed or stepping off a porch without seeing it. They're most active in the warm months, often around dusk. If you spot one, keep everyone back and call. Don't try to kill it: going after a snake is how most bites happen.

Outside, it is usually already leaving

A snake out in the yard is usually just passing through and will be gone within a few minutes to an hour. In most cases the best thing to do is leave it alone and keep pets away. A snake inside the house or garage is different. Call right away, because the longer it's out of sight, the less likely it is to be found.

What the pro does

The pro identifies the snake first, then removes it safely. Non-venomous snakes are relocated, never harmed. Then they look at why it came: rodents under the house, gaps between brick piers, an open crawlspace vent, a gap under the garage door, overgrowth along the foundation. Closing those gaps with metal screening, adding door sweeps and dealing with the rodents does far more than any snake repellent.