Snakes For Varmint Control!

[897tgigvib]

Does anyone know what kinds of Snakes eat Gophers and Moles and Voles and Mice?

It would be best if the Snake or Snakes I get would not become an introduced pest.

Also, it would have to be a nonpoisonous Snake that would not inflict any kind of serious wound if it bit a person.

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I know, it would likely also eat my other predator friends and I would have to find the right balance and timings. Also, it would be loose in my garden which means free to escape. I would need another balance of feeding it to keep it near and in my garden, and keeping it hungry enough to catch the varmints.

Not sure if I will do this, but want good info.

 

[Nyboy]

Call a local pest control company, they often look for places to release harmless snakes.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Big ones, Marshall, big ones, especially for the gophers. Those gophers must be driving you batty to even think about this. I dont have any specific knowledge about which snakes, mainly wanted to offer you sympathy on those gophers. Some pests are really hard.

I like Nyboys idea about giving an exterminating company a place to release snakes. Youll have to see if they will deliver. But how would your campers react to seeing large non-poisonous snakes around?

 

[897tgigvib]

I know they'd much rather have the non poisonous snakes than rattlers. Some would not mind, some would be squeamish, others mildly concerned. Most would simply kill them if they got in their tents or rv's. I really would probably have to make a way to keep them in the garden. Probably not possible. Gotta look into it though.

Yea, toward the last month or so gophers got in. They mostly make messes of the older bean plants. They do not seem to like beans at least. The occasional bean is removed and nibbled and just left on the ground.

 

[Nyboy]

King snakes which are native to California eat rattlesnakes. Youtube has videos of them eating.

 

[897tgigvib]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

King Snakes would be much appreciated then! Do they eat Gophers too?

 

[NwMtGardener]

Hehe, no wonder marshall's so peeved at the gophers, they're messing with his BEANS!!

Just heckling you marshall, and your bean obsession! Good luck with the gophers!

 

[thistlebloom]

Gopher snakes are real common in CA Marshall. We always had them around, because until we got our two expert gopher catching cats we had a virtual epidemic of gophers. One of our Newfie dogs was a good snake catcher, and we had to discourage him from pulling the gopher snakes out of the gopher holes.

Our boys kept one for a summer one time and fed it mice, then released it in the fall.

 

[897tgigvib]

I'm not going to put professionally trained gophergitter Clevland outside for gopher duty. He's become an indoor cat.

But I am looking up about these King Snakes and Gopher Snakes! Both seem good so far, but the King Snake has a couple bonuses going for it. I can let the campers know that my King Snake(s) kill and eat Rattlers, and, they are beautiful!

But I don't know. Maybe the Gopher Snake would stick around better or do a better job of it.

I think...I would probably have to contain the snake or snakes in the garden, and need to find if it is doable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_kingsnake

 

[thistlebloom]

I'm pretty sure that gopher snakes will also go after rattlers. But the unfortunate thing about gopher snakes is their resemblance to rattlers.

One more point in favor of the California King snake is that they are distinctive enough to not be mistaken for a rattlesnake.