The Snakes of Cincinnati
Late spring means weekends filled with landscaping projects, lawncare chores, gardening, cookouts, grad parties, and bonfires. With all of that time spent in our yards, it is inevitable we are going to interact with some of the wildlife native to our area.
The most feared and misunderstood wildlife we get calls about in the late spring are the local snake populations. Here in Ohio we have around 25 native snake species. Not all 25 are prominent in the Cincinnati area and the copperhead snake is the only venomous snake in our region. The ones we get the most panicked calls about are garter snakes, milksnakes, common watersnakes, and eastern rat snakes.
Garter Snakes
The garter snake is one of the most common snakes in yards in the Cincinnati area. Ohio is home to five different variations of these snakes. Easily identifiable by the “ribbons” or stripes running the length of their body, these are slender snakes that primarily feed on toads, frogs, minnows, earthworms, mice, and salamanders. These snakes prefer a moist or high humidity environment like swaps, bogs, marshes, drainage ditches, and small streams.
Controlling food source populations, mitigating “swampy” areas with poor drainage, and keeping grasses and vegetation under 4” in height are great ways to keep these snakes away from your property.
The common areas of the home these snakes gain access to are inadequate door seals, and voids left around utility entrances such as gas lines, cable, and waterlines. They are also well known to travel along sump pump drain hoses and end up in the basket in the basement and make their way out the top. Ensuring you have adequate door seals, the utility entrances on your home are properly excluded, and putting a screen/mesh on the end of your sump pump discharge hose will help keep these snakes out of your home.
Milksnakes
The milksnake is the snake we get the most frantic calls about from people convinced it is a copperhead. The milksnakes coloration and patterns on its back are slightly similar to copperhead markings, but the milksnake lacks the prominent “hershey kiss” pattern on its sides that the copperhead has. Also, the shape of the head between the copperhead and the milksnake are vastly different. The copperhead has a distinct “spade” shape to its head indicative of most venomous snakes whereas the milksnake has a very rounded oval head shape.
Milksnakes in the wild tend to inhabit woods, meadows, and river bottoms, but are also well adapted to city and suburban environments. Their food source is mainly small rodents such as mice, voles, and the occasional shrew.
They can be very defensive if approached and will strike repeatedly, but they have very small teeth as they are a constrictor species that does not rely on venom for hunting prey.
Just like the garter snakes, controlling the food source will help in keeping populations at bay on your property. Though, there is an argument to be made that having milksnakes on your property provides “free” rodent control measures that you would have to pay a company like our hundreds of dollars over a summer to achieve the same results. So if a little snake in the garage or barn is not something that bothers you, keep it around nd be thankful mother nature gave you an on site rodent control specialist.
Common Watersnakes
When we get a call about an alleged water moccasin I would bet my entire company on it actually being a common watersnake. Water moccasins are not native to Ohio and the closest they get to our state is extreme southern Indiana and south eastern Virginia. One of the most prolific snakes in our great state though is the common watersnakes and it inhabits just about every body of water in our area. To the everyday queen city residents, snakes in the water are not something we are often made aware of.
These dark colored, slender snakes glide effortlessly through the water often in streams, rivers, creeks, and along the shoreline of lakes. Their primary food source is small fish, minnows, crayfish, and frogs.
These snakes will not normally inhabit homes, but if a water feature such as a pond, pool, or stream are on the property and there is a sufficient food supply of small fish or amphibians, you may see them.
Eastern Rat Snakes
The largest of the Cincinnati area snake species, these big boys/girls average adult length around 6 feet but have been known to reach as far as over 8 feet. Dark colorings, thick bodies, and large length make this snake VERY troublesome for people with a fear of legless reptiles. So troublesome that this snake is by far the most likely to be killed on site as it is undoubtedly the most misunderstood species of snakes in our state.
A mainly forest dwelling snake, the eatsern rat snake is often found climbing trees and taking over woodpecker holes/nests. Feeding on birds, their eggs, rodents, and small mammals, these beneficial snakes provide much needed ecological balance in the environments they inhabit.
The common calls we get for these snakes are sightings under decks, in rafters of barns/sheds, and in the corners of garages left open. In my 3 years of wildlife work in our area, everytime we are called to a rat snake removal we also find heavy rodent evidence and activity throughout the garage, shed, barn. Keep the rodents out of those areas, and the eastern rat snake will move on to another property.
I hope this helped you understand a bit more about our leggless neighbors and maybe even quell some of the fear and animosity you have towards them.
Here at Huntsman Wildlife we have three simple rules when it comes to snakes:
If you can not identify or name the snake, just walk away from it, that is the safest option for you AND the snake.
Many of the snakes in our area are in a protected class and it is actually against the law to kill a protected class animal, so unless you can adequately identify it as a non protected class snake, refer to rule number 1.
Want to guarantee you will not have snakes on your property? It’s as easy as controlling the food source. Manage the rodent populations, keep standing waters at a minimum, and keep vegetation cut low and you should be fine.
Till next time… See ya folks.