‘Mom, There’s a Snake in My Room!’

July 03, 2021

Ever since my three children arrived on the scene many years ago, there has never been a dull moment in our home when surprise animal visitors came to call.

If you’re a parent, I’m sure you know exactly what I mean. Well, maybe not exactly, but you get the idea.

We’ve experienced the usual as you probably have in your home: field mice, spiders, and crickets. My kiddos took turns setting live traps followed by outside release…far from home. Nice visiting for awhile, but we don’t want you to come back!

And unusual critters, too, stopped by to greet us: squirrels, sparrows, chipmunks, bats, and hawks. Dealing with each was an adventure for the entire family.

Very little surprises me any longer. I expect the unexpected. Better said, I embrace it. Because you have to if you want to stay sane while raising children when wild animals stop by.

But the scariest animal visitor (at least for my daughter, who, by the way, recently turned 20) was the snake.

Goes to show that you always don’t outgrow childhood fears.

Here you learn how we solved the snake problem — both for my terrified daughter and for our reptilian visitor — from our first-hand experience. And you’ll get 10 natural DIY tips to keep all creatures out of your home.

Why are snakes so disliked?

Snakes are really not so hated as you may think. In fact, in many world traditions through time, snakes were signs of fertility, life, or wisdom, to name just a few positive images of these reptiles.

But in the Biblical sense, popular today in the Western world, snakes have always gotten the bad rap — ever since Eden, if not before.

In this portrayal, snakes are considered sneaky, vicious, or dangerous. They are the iconic symbols of deceit and evil. Contemporary cultural references to snakes as friendly or cute are rare — unless you’re talking to a herpetologist, a die hard snake lover, or if Kaa, from Kipling’s Jungle Book, is your favorite, “nice” belly crawler.

Today for the most part, humans have anthropomorphically made serpents into the repositories of our worst traits — along with rats and pigs and a few other unlucky animals. Gotta have a scapegoat, and the incorrectly described slimy snake fit the bill perfectly. (Their skin is rather dry, by the way.)

This notion of snakes as conniving or bad is easily picked up by young children, even if it’s unintentional. In my experience, it’s been girls — not boys — who get rattled by the very image of a snake, let alone a live one peering at you…in cold blood.

Theirs, that is.

Is it that girls have more of a flair for drama than boys? Have they been prepped by other societal messages to behave like damsels in distress? Although I wasn’t like this as a child, this is certainly the case with my daughter even as she enters her second decade of life.

My teenage sons, however, have always viewed snakes with calm interest whether we’re on the hiking trail, in the backyard, reading a book, or viewing a documentary. They watch — enthralled — without any preconceived, emotionally charged ideas upon first encountering them. In fact, when they were little, they asked me if they could have a pet snake!

Not wanting to feed a snake live rodents on a regular basis, I declined. (Can’t say that my personal biases didn’t play a role in ruling that out.)

So we settled on a turtle instead.

However, never wanting to deprive my children of a learning experience, we witnessed a snake feeding once, and I thought that was enough. My boys were totally captivated — almost amused — to observe the entire hunt, capture, and devour sequence between a python and a rat in a 50-gallon aquarium at a children’s museum when they were two and four years old.

It took over an hour until the deed was done, but they watched patiently with amazing concentration. Every flick of the tongue. Each quivering whisker of the rat. Unusual for toddlers and preschoolers, but the suspense drew them in. Waiting. More waiting. Then, strike!

They laughed and cheered to see the writhing rodent being slowly gulped down, inch by inch.

I found it repulsive and very violent.

Meanwhile, my six-year-old daughter stared happily at the butterfly display in another room, ignoring the snake-rat action. No interest in snakes whatsoever.

Until the evening of May 26th, 2021. In her bedroom.

Amira meets the snake upfront and personal

I have never heard a person scream so loudly before. Talk about blood-curdling.

High-pitched shrieks of sheer terror followed her down the hall after she slammed the door, shouting

“Help! Help! Mom! There’s a snake in my room!”

Lucky for her she had a younger brother in the room next door who relished the chance for some on-the-spot snake-handling.

Jamil first assured her in a quiet voice,

“He’s just a garter snake. Perfectly harmless. Probably more afraid of you than you are of him.”

As his sister watched, spell bound, she finally calmed down. Knowledge is power, right? Especially when you have a baby bro around who’s in command of the situation.

Meanwhile, I wondered silently, How did he know that? And proclaim it with such fearless confidence? From what previous experience, encounter, book, library program, or video did that amazing knowledge arise?

I wracked my brain.

Memories of snakes at countless visits to museums and aquaria came to mind. In state parks and nature centers around the country. On hiking outings. In our backyard. At our car mechanic’s (believe it or not, a real herp lover with corn and milk snakes in aquaria in his waiting room). At several library programs over the years. In the hundreds of animal library books he’d study intently for hours at a time, day after day, year after year — even before he could read.

I looked admiringly at Jamil, proud that he possessed such useful knowledge. Because you just never know.

I felt confident in his ability to remove the snake and restore peace.

And he did just that.

Silly me! I asked Jamil if he needed to look up snake handling online before approaching the reptile.

“No need looking it up. I remember reading about it when I was little.”

Score! Books are great. All those library trips were worth it. Even the misplaced or damaged book due to kids fighting over who gets to read it next (no joke; I still have the evidence) resulting in fines.

By the way, have you heard of the benefits of “getting lost in a book”? You’re more empathetic and creative — and that’s just for starters.

Very true for my kids.

Anyway, back to our snake story.

Jamil slowly kneeled down beside the snake, who was still in a corner, unmoving and cautiously eyeing us. He deftly moved his hand over and around him, grabbing him with two fingers behind the head and thumb under the “chin.” Then Jamil carried him out of my daughter’s room.

Immediately at feeling the sensation of being lifted off the floor, the snake quickly wrapped all 18 grey inches of himself like a coil around Jamil’s forearm. In response, Jamil lifted him up eye-level (far from his face), and stared intently at the snake for a minute. Smiling, he said:

“Handsome little critter.”

Jamil then proceeded to give us a short presentation about snake behavior. (Not that we asked, but we humored him.) The snake enjoyed his moment of glory by moving himself around Jamil’s waist then onto his other arm.

My animal-loving son also informed us there are more than 20 types of garter snakes! Who knew, right?

Our intrepid friend was most likely an Eastern Garter Snake, like the one pictured below.

Jamil walked over to show Amira — who shrieked one last time while running outside of the house — peering in through the glass door at a safe distance.

Since it was evening, Jamil didn’t want to walk down to the end of the cul de sac where there is a woody area with a stream and release the snake right away.

So he placed him in a 10-gallon metal pot for the night. When the snake instantly slithered out, Jamil caught and returned him, then quickly covered the pot with a heavy, tight-fitting glass lid containing a small, open air hole.

All in a matter of seconds.

Once he was safely set up for the night and couldn’t escape, Amira, looking relieved, finally returned to her room. (Where she immediately proceeded to look under every piece of furniture on a snake hunt. Who knows? Maybe there was a friend.)

The next day, we found the snake curled up in the same spot as the night before, safely in the lidded pot.

Jamil and Amira uneventfully released the snake in the woods far from our house. Amira opened the lid then ran away while Jamil said — tongue in cheek:

“Free at last!”

Keeping wild animals out of your home

Animals need to survive just like humans do. They’re constantly on the lookout for food, and, when it’s cold, a warm place for shelter.

Living within our raging climate crisis coupled with their habitat loss, animals may be fleeing wildfires, floods, extreme heat, and other weather events when they stumble upon your home. Or, they’re looking for new homes since theirs have been encroached upon to make way for farms, grazing land, plantations, roads, or housing developments.

It’s in many animals’ natures to fit through tiny, quiet places in order to reach food, shelter — or a safe place to raise a family.

Thus, humans’ never-ending battle to block up every hole, crack, and crevice to keep wild animals out. But sometimes they still get in.

What can you do as a concerned homeowner? Try these 10 natural DIY strategies to deter wild animals from your home.

Repair or replace all window and door screens or broken glass.
Keep deck and porch doors closed at all times. (This is how a hawk got trapped once in our screened-in back porch and couldn’t figure out how to leave.)
Caulk around the perimeters of all windows, doors, piping, wires, and cable boxes. Almost all caulking on the market contains very toxic chemicals. Try 100% silicone as the safest bet.
Foam sprays, used especially in attics and around chimneys, are also highly toxic. One brand that is environmentally friendly is AirKrete.
Install an animal-proof cover on your chimney if you have one. Extra metal screening may be necessary.
Keep the damper closed when not in use.
If you’re not allergic to domestic cats, keeping one inside may deter many species of unwanted visitors from entering. (Don’t let him outside to roam freely though; he’ll kill loads of songbirds and mammals that he’ll probably drop at your feet as if he deserves a prize.)
A farmer I know swears by human urine as a natural deterrent.
Sprinkle cayenne pepper powder around the perimeter of your home. Many animals will avoid it.
If you have a lawn, keep it very close-cropped near your home. Higher grass elsewhere is great for birds and bugs…and snakes. (In trying to figure out how our snake got inside, we thought that when the grass got too high around our house due to a lot of heavy rains over consecutive days, (another effect of our climate crisis), which prevented mowing, it served as a standing invitation to snakes to come closer. Cutting it down probably made them scurry away fast…or possibly inside.)
Keep trash cans and pet food securely covered and away from your home’s exterior or inside it.

Wrap up on how to deal with wild animals in your home

Educating your children from an early age about wild animals living in your area will do a lot to lessen their fears (both your kids’ and the animals’). Spend time outside together observing wild animals (if you can find them, that is). Point out that they need food and shelter just like people do — and they don’t understand that your home is private property.

Participating in library or extension service programs where your kids experience critters up close will help little humans feel more comfortable around animals, too.

It’s preferable to trap live animals rather than kill them in your home. Then take them far from your home before releasing them so they won’t return.

Better yet, there are many natural ways to deter wild animals from entering your home in the first place. I describe 10 different ways in this article.

No one wants to share their home with snakes, chipmunks, mice or other wild animals. The good news is that living peacefully close by — but not in the same house — is possible. It may take a little ingenuity and persistence on your part to outsmart critters, but your success at keeping them at bay will be worth it.

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Previously Published on medium

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