getting rid of water snake

[w00005414]

Hi all,

I have a 1700 gallon pond that is lined on the inside with all sized rocks all the way up to the top. I have been battling a water snake that pops his head out from the rocks but as soon as I go after him with a shovel he ducks behind the rocks back under water.

He already ate one of my large shubunkins!

I found a way to get him out of the pond so I thought I would share it with everyone (took me a while to figure it out). When he pokes his head out squirt him with a hose with the nozel set to "jet" and it will stun him a little and keep the hose square on his head.... after a bit he will make a run for it out of the pond.

I live in Massachusetts and I have been trying to find out what kind of snake it is. It can stay underwater for a good couple of minutes and it is a fairly fast swimmer. It is a dark chocolate brown. This one was about 3 feet long and a little skinnier that a garden hose. Last year we had a black rat snake that was about 5 feet long hanging out around the pond and he was almost as thick as the large end of a baseball bat.... I nearly soiled myself when I saw him for the first time!!!!!

 

[PHYLAL]

Strange that you should post this when you did. I could swear I saw the tail of a snake today, slithering through my hyacinths. I poked around a bit but saw no further movement. I hope I was wrong. If not, your advice may come in handy.

 

[DrDave]

Great idea on using the water jet. Beats poking a hole in the liner. i have been lucky so far, the only snakes I have seen in my yard are Gopher snakes and while they can swim, I don't think they volunterilly go into water.

Does anyone have any thing to add on Gopher snakes?

 

[PHYLAL]

I saw my snake again, several times, it is a garter snake. Now garter snakes are not water snakes, GENERALLY! But they have been known to eat fish on occasion. Does anyone have any reason (personal experience) that says I should try to remove this snake from my pond area?

 

[DrDave]

How big is the snake and how small is your smallest fish?

 

[clm]

I've had garter snakes in the pond before. They don't usually stick around too long. Like you said, they're not really water snakes, they prefer land. He should leave on his own eventually. When I had them around I had a goldfish population problem and they would never stick around long enough to help with that. I didn't find them to eat much in the way of fish. They seemed to prefer any frogs they could find instead.

Cindy

 

[PHYLAL]

I have not seen the snake for over a month now, perhaps it has moved on. It was not a very big snake, but certainly could have taken many of my fish had it a mind too. I like the idea of having snakes around in the garden and flower beds (they keep the voles down). And I would not mind if they ate a few frogs, but I do not want them feeding on my fish.