4 Household Habits That Can Attract Snakes to Your Home

Unless you like them as pets, no one wants snakes in their home. But certain ways that you maintain your house may be enticing these reptilian home raiders into your residence. Avoid these four ways that you might be inadvertently inviting slithering serpents to find a way inside your home.

Not Cutting Your Grass

You'd be surprised by what can hide in an uncut lawn with tall grasses. Frogs and a bevy of pests can take up residence within the lengthy blades of your lawn, and snakes are just as attracted to this kind of environment—especially if areas are dark and damp.

Stacking Firewood Against Your Home

Stacking firewood against your house may keep things looking neat and organized, but firewood maintained in this manner can provide a habitat for mice, frogs, and lizards, and attract their predator—snakes.

Not Clearing Household Clutter 

Clutter inside your house may be a turn-off for you, but it's a turn-on for mice. These rodents love to hide in places like pantries, kitchen cabinets, attics, and garages. So be sure to clean up spills and other messes, and keep these areas neat and clutter-free so they'll be less attractive to mice—and thus less attractive to snakes. Also, be sure to clean up after meal prep and in eating areas to discourage mice looking for food. If you spot rats or mice in your home, or see signs of their presence, like droppings, reach out to an exterminator right away.

Not Cleaning the Area Around Your Bird Feeder

Birdwatching with a cup of coffee in the morning sounds like a good way to spend a Saturday or Sunday morning, or any morning for that matter. But your bird feeder could very well be an open invitation to snakes. How? While snakes aren't attracted to birdseed, they are interested in what the birdseed attracts. You see, when birds feed on the seed they inevitably drop some on the ground. If the seeds collect and aren't cleaned up regularly they'll attract rodents like mice and chipmunks—and they are want snakes want. If these small animals frequent the area around the feeder, so will snakes.