Snakes in cool places: What to do when you find one in your home

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - When it gets too hot outside, most creatures like to find a cool spot to beat the heat. That includes snakes.

Snakes will hide in places like basements or porches, trying to stay cool. The Pulaski County Sheriff’s received a 911 call when a woman found a snake in the wreath on her front door. Thankfully Detective Gibbs came to the rescue. Once he arrived, he removed the four-foot snake.

“I’ve dealt with them before,” said Det. Gibbs. “I’m one of those guys that since a kid, I’ve been catching them and everything else, and looking at them and release them elsewhere. My partner that day was afraid of them. I just walked up, grabbed it, and started getting untangled from the wreath.”

He then placed the creature in a cooler and drove it to a different location so it could be free and would not scare the woman again.

“He did enjoy the car ride because a little cooler we had with him they had him in was just like a little lunchbox cooler,” said Gibbs. “While driving, I looked over at the side to make sure everything was still good with him, and he just had his head at the side of the cooler, just looking around wasn’t trying to get out or anything.”

Francis Skalicky with the Missouri Department of Conservation shared some advice on what to do if you find a snake in your home.

“If you find the snake in your home, in your garage, somewhere close to your house where you don’t want it to be, the most important thing to do is the hardest thing to do, stay calm,” said Skalicky. “If you get frantic, if you get overly excited, you will probably make some bad decisions. You will get the snake excited, and you won’t accomplish what you want to do. Remove the snake.”

Yard maintenance will also help keep snakes away from your home.

“Mow your lawn, weed-eat, all that kind of stuff,” said Skalicky. “To a wild animal that’s called disturbance and wild animals, such as snakes, they don’t like disturbance, the more disturbance you can have around your house.”

If you find a snake in or around your home, you’ll want to be careful when removing it. Even nonvenomous snakes will bite. You’ll want to make sure it doesn’t return.

“Think about why that snake was there, too,” said Skalicky. “There are two things you’re looking at here is number one, how it got in through a crack through a door that’s not quite shutting, something like that. A woodpile around your house, a debris pile, you know, try to get rid of those reasons why the snake was around your house.”

Now, let’s say you find a snake in your garage. One way you can get rid of it is to open the door and create a path for the snake to get out. You can use a broom to nudge it along. If you feel brave enough, pick up the snake by the head or tail, carry it outside, or place it in a bucket. Make sure you have a plan on where you are taking the snake before you pick it up so you can release it quickly.

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