The Popular Snake Repellent Trick That You Won't Want To Try In Your Yard

Many harmless snakes are more interested in eating pests, such as mice and spiders, which may be causing issues around your home and garden. Of course, there are also snakes that, when cornered, will strike and could be poisonous. Of all of the hacks you may find to keep snakes out of your yard, sulfur is one you should pass on for a couple of reasons.

Typically, you'll find sulfur as an ingredient in snake deterrents, but you can skip any of those. Before you bother with any deterrents, consider why you want to get the snakes out of your yard. Are they dangerous to household pets or children who spend time outside? Or are they minding their own business and merely startling you from time to time? There are many reasons you may want snakes in your yard. Consider the benefits of snakes — they can reduce your need for pesticides. Aside from mice, they also eat bugs, rabbits, moles, and other critters that may get into your garden and cause damage. If you find you absolutely cannot share your yard with these slithery sliders, ditch the sulfur-laced products.

Many sulfur-containing products claim to keep snakes away. But not only is sulfur a relatively expensive ingredient in these products, meaning they carry a higher price tag, but there are no formal studies to support the claim that it deters snakes. This is a useless ingredient in snake repellents, and you'll only be wasting your money if you buy them to get snakes out of your yard.

It's hard to know exactly where the myth originated that sulfur deters snakes. Perhaps it's the idea that the smell of onions repels snakes with its sulfurous scent that made people think sulfur itself was the right choice — although the onion claim has no basis in science, either. Those who recommend using sulfur on its own say that snakes don't like the feel of it on their skin, but homeowners who tested it themselves report that snakes will slide right across it without a second thought.

Even if snake-away products don't really scare snakes away, there are some things you can do to naturally deter snakes from your yard that may not even cost you a penny. First, remove items that attract snakes to your yard. If you remove their sheltering areas, such as brush piles, they'll look elsewhere to make a home. Let them do their hunting for food, and keep feed for farm animals and pets indoors in a snake-proof container. Finally, enjoy your outdoor spaces more. If you spend a lot of time in your yard, snakes will be less likely to come around — they don't want to hang out with humans. It also helps to know the most common places where snakes hide in your yard, so you can work on making those areas less appealing to them.