The Popular Feature That May Be Attracting Snakes To Your Garden

While snakes can be extremely beneficial garden visitors, many people understandably don't want them in their landscape, especially in areas where venomous snakes are common. While there are many common backyard features that can attract snakes to your yard, including tall grasses, piles of firewood, and large basking rocks, one snake-attracting yard staple may surprise you. Bird feeders – especially messy ones with seeds spilled beneath them — can quickly result in a yard full of snakes.

At first this may seem a bit confusing, since snakes don't generally eat seeds. Often though, when you see multiple snakes in your yard, you don't really have a snake problem ... you have a rodent problem. Mice, rats, squirrels, and other rodents are among many snakes' favorite foods, so when they come into your yard to snack on bird seed, snakes will soon follow. Eliminating the bird seed mess should get rid of lawn mice and other rodents in your yard, and by extension, result in fewer snakes.

Snakes and rodents aren't the only reasons why you may want to clean up your bird seed mess. Old seeds can also become contaminated with fungi, which has the potential to then sicken any birds that eat them. These issues don't mean that you have to give up feeding the birds entirely, though. Just take steps to limit bird seed mess and to clean up any spillage that does occur.

If you're already using seeds that are well liked and readily eaten by your local birds, then it's likely that much of the mess is due to the hulls of the seeds. The birds crack open the seeds and leave the remains behind. Switching to seeds with their shells already removed means your birds will create less waste when enjoying their food. 

The type of bird feeder you use can also impact the amount of mess created. Opt for a feeder with a tray beneath it so dropped seeds stay off the ground and are easy to clean up. You should also take steps to squirrel-proof your bird feeder, as those fluffy-tailed rodents are notorious for their ability to dump feeders, scattering the seeds on the ground below. If you're still seeing snakes after this, it may be best to contact pest control professionals.