Fig. 11 - A vacant lot in Uibana, Illinois, where plains garter snakes abound, 

 abundance of ground cover. 



Trash furnishes an 



burn weeds along fencerows; remove such ground 

 cover as lumber, flagstones, loose bricks, and de- 

 bris. Such measures will soon make your property 

 uninhabitable for these reptiles. 



There is still the chance that an occasional 

 snake will move into a lawn from an adjacent lot, 

 and it may not be possible to mow or rake adjoin- 

 ing properties. You can move the most obvious 

 cover objects, thereby improving the appearance 

 of the neighborhood, or visit these objects re- 

 peatedly, destroying the snakes found under them. 

 Contrary to general belief, a woods or brushy area 

 is less favorable for a concentration of "garden" 

 snakes than is a grassy lot littered with trash, such 

 as that pictured in fig. 11. 



Removal of water snakes from or near farm 

 ponds and recreational lakes is difficult. Occasion- 

 ally these snakes are caught on hooks baited with 

 minnows, and they are sometimes caught in seines. 

 Probably the most effective means of reducing the 

 number of water snakes is by shooting or noosing 

 those that bask on limbs overhanging the water and 

 by removing logs, rocks, or other ground cover at 

 the edge of the water. Like "garden" snakes, these 

 reptiles often crawl under objects, and they may 

 congregate under a particularly favorable piece of 

 tin, where they can be easily destroyed. 



There is some evidence that snake abundance 

 is cyclic. Thus, if these animals appear to be al- 

 most everywhere one season, it is very likely that 

 they will be fewer in number the following season 



and until the next peak year. Although snakes may 

 appear to be numerous from late March through May 

 in most years, they are rarely seen in the summer. 

 It is highly recommended that all harmless 

 snakes be tolerated, for, although some are not of 

 much direct value to man, neither are they harmful. 

 Wholesale slaughter of organisms has, in many 

 cases, resulted in an unexpected disturbance in the 

 so-called balance of nature. The methods for erad- 

 ication outlined above are meant for those people 

 who are aware that most snakes are harmless but 

 who can have no peace of mind while sharing their 

 lawns with them. A campaign to eradicate any ani- 

 mal group should be approached with caution. 



Recommended Literature 



A Key to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Illi- 

 nois, by Fred R. Cagle. Museum of Natural and 

 Social Sciences , Southern Illinois Normal Universi- 

 ty, Carbondale. [19417] 



Field Book of Snakes of the United States 

 and Canada, by Karl P. Schmidt and D. Dwight 

 Davis. G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York. 1941. 



Snakes Alive and How They Live, by Clifford 

 H. Pope. Viking Press, New York. 1937. 



The Reptiles of North America, by Raymond 

 L. Ditmars. Doubleday, Doran & Co., Inc., New 

 York. 1936. 



The Problem of Too Many Snakes, by H. K. 

 Gloyd. Chicago Naturalist 7(4):87-97. January 

 31, 1945. 



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