Last Updated on October 9, 2022 by theworldofsleepstaff
Are snake bites common?
According to the World Health Organization, about 5.4 million people are bitten by snakes each year. So yes, snake bites are fairly common.
And if you follow The Snakes In The City TV show on Nat Geo Wild, you’ll see that some of the most poisonous snakes around have even been captured in the confines of people’s homes!
Waking up to find a snake crawling on your body – or stepping on one – in your bedroom or campsite can take several years off your life span. Asides from the shock and sudden fear, they could also end up biting or injecting you with venom because they might feel threatened.
If you’re reading this article, it means you’re interested in how you can prevent that from happening, and that is exactly what we’ll be showing you.
In this article, we will share tips on keeping snakes away when sleeping on the ground. Whether that be in your bedroom, other surroundings, or camping areas.
CONTENTS:
- Environments Where Snakes Are Mostly Found
- Tips For How To Keep Snakes Away When Sleeping On The Ground
- Ways To Keep Snakes Away From Your Campsite
- How to Keep Snakes Away From Your Bedroom
- Things That Can Attract Snakes To Your House
- How to Keep Snakes Away From Your House
Environments where Snakes are Mostly Found
Snakes are found almost everywhere on earth. Deserts, forests, mountains, valleys, you name it, they will be almost always be there. You can even find snakes in cold places like Alaska!
Although most of them avoid human settlements, you can still find some of them around.
Below are other places where snakes can be found:
1. Rain forest
2. Desert
3. Salt water and fresh water
4. In forests and woodlands
5. Grassland
6. Wetland
7. Around Humans
Tips For How to Keep Snakes Away when Sleeping on the Ground
1. Use Natural Repellants
Natural repellants such as sulfur, cinnamon oil, and clove may help repel snakes. All you need to do is to pour these repellants around the perimeter you want to sleep in.
2. Use A Fragrance That Snakes Dislike
There are many fragrances that repel snakes. Fragrances such as smoke, onions, and garlic. You can also use essential oils containing these fragrances around the area where you wish to sleep.
When it comes to how to keep snakes away when sleeping on the ground, this is one of the best methods.
3. Use Vinegar
Vinegar is very effective in repelling snakes near water bodies. So if you are sleeping or camping beside a body of water, all you need to do is to pour white vinegar around the perimeter of the pool to repel snakes.
4. Calcium Cyanide Can Be Effective
This chemical is another effective chemical for killing and discouraging snake visits. But as always, be very careful when using chemicals and research any dangers.
Six Ways to Keep Snakes Away from your Campsite
1. Keep A Tidy Campsite
You have to keep a tidy campsite while camping outdoors because having lots of waste thrown around your tent is a way to create hiding spots for snakes and other critters.
2. Make Noise While In Camp
It’s known that snakes won’t to have nothing to do with humans. In fact, snakes are afraid of us the same way we are afraid of them. The only time they attack is when they feel threatened or surprised.
When you make noises in the camp, snakes would be more likely to avoid your camping area.
3. Always Check Your Tent Before Going Inside
Being cold-blooded, snakes are always searching for a warm environment, especially as night approaches.
Before retiring to your tent at night, always check through the confines of your tents so you don’t have any unpleasant surprises or visits from them.
5. Store Your Food Properly
Although snakes are usually not attracted to human food, their prey (like mice and other rodents) usually are. So, if you don’t want to attract them to your camping area, it would be best to store your food properly.
Don’t leave food cans or containers open, and always do the dishes when you’re done eating.
6. Avoid Camping In Forested & Bouldery Terrain
Forested and bouldery terrains are concentration areas for snakes because of the shade they provide. Therefore, when choosing a camping area, ensure you don’t stay in a highly forested or bouldery area.
If you want to keep snakes away when sleeping on the ground, one of the best things you can do is avoid camping in habits they like.
Four Tips For How to Keep Snakes Away from your Bedroom
1. Do Not Store Boxes In Your Room
If your garage is already full and you’ve turned a part of your room into a storage space for boxes, you are building a perfect housing space for snakes. This is because storage boxes are some of snakes’ favorite places to hide.
2. Always Check Under Your Bed
If you have turned the space underneath your bed into a place full of dust and junk, you are already building a home for snakes. This is because the jumble of junk under your bed is a great place for snakes to hide.
3. Repair Broken Windows & Door Frames
Broken window frames allow reptiles to find their way inside your bedroom. To prevent this, repair all broken windows and door frames.
4. Regularly Clean The Areas Around Heating Sources
If it’s chilly outside, you may find snakes hiding near a radiator or vents to get warm, and from there, they can crawl into your apartment. Regularly clearing and arranging areas like this will make you less susceptible to discovering a snake in your home.
Six Things that can Attract Snakes to Your House
Several factors can attract snakes to your house; some of those are listed below.
1. Over Watering Your Lawn & Garden
Snakes are attracted to places that are stocked with lots of food available for them to eat.
And overwatering your garden can lead to too much landscape with water, which will, in turn, attracts prey species such as frogs, worms, and slugs, which serve as food for snakes and other predators.
Overwatering yards also leads to the growth of brush and weeds, a suitable and comfortable habitat for snakes to hide in.
2. High Concentration Of Rodents & Birds
Many snakes feed on rodents, mice, and poultry birds. So if you have plenty of these animals around you, they will attract snakes to your environment.
This is worse if you don’t know you have them in your house, especially mice or rats.
3. Presence Of Tall Plants & Grasses
Several species of snakes, including grass snakes, prefer to hide in tall grasses and plants. This is because it is a perfect place for them to hide without being discovered.
So if you have them around you, you stand at a higher risk of attracting snakes.
4. Composting Near Your House
This is something most people do without giving it much thought. However, there are consequences for dumping or throwing food in your backyard. For one, it’ll cause all sorts of rodent problems and infestation, which could0, in turn, invite snakes.
5. Sources Of Water
Some snakes prefer to live in wet environments, which means you might be housing snakes in your yard every time rain falls, and puddles begin to form. Some snakes also like to stay around water in order to stay hydrated.
6. Free Access To Your Yard
At times, snakes end up in your yard simply because there is nothing stopping them from entering, so you should try to prevent their access to your yard at all costs.
Nine Tips to Keep Snakes Away from Your House
1. Make Sure You Get Rid Of Weeds
If you have a fence guiding the perimeter of your lawn, there is a probability that you have long weeds around your fence.
Make sure you trim the long grasses at all times to keep snakes away.
2. Regulate The Volume Of Water Used In Watering
Be careful of the volume of water you use when watering your lawn because watering your lawn in excess attracts animals like toads and frogs to the lawn. When there is a concentration of these animals in your lawn, snakes come after them.
3. Cover Open Spaces
An area that is cool and damp is always an ideal place for snakes. So if you find out these spots on your lawn, make sure you make an effort to cover them.
4. Use Natural Predators
Natural predators such as cats and foxes are predators of snakes. Getting a fox as a pet might be taking it too far, but cats can do the trick.
5. Use Naphthalene
Naphthalene is a primary ingredient in many commercial snake repellant products because it can be toxic to snakes.
If you don’t want to waste money buying a commercial product, then you could place mothballs (they contain a high amount of naphthalene) in holes, cracks, or any other area where snakes may be a problem. However, be careful to keep them away from children and pets as they can prove toxic if ingested.
6. Use Onions & Garlic
Have you ever wondered why you shed tears anytime you cut onions? It’s certainly not because you’re sad, although that might be a factor too.
It’s actually the sulphuric acid in garlic and onions that causes us to tear up. This acid also repels snakes. To use it, all you have to do is to mix it with rock salt and sprinkle it around your home.
7. Use Ammonia
Ammonia has a strong, pungent odor which snakes dislike. Sprinkling some around your environment will deter the reptiles from coming to your living space.
8. Grow Lemon Grass
Lemon grass has a citrus smell that disgusts snakes. You can grow some in your garden or yard to deter snakes.
9. Eliminate Hiding Places
Snakes like to stay in dark and damp places. They are also known to hide and live in crevices, cracks, and holes.
Eliminating these places can help prevent snakes from coming closer to your home. Always inspect the exterior of your home and repair all cracks and damaged gutters, pipes, and ventilation ducts.
How To Keep Snakes Away When Sleeping On The Ground: Our Final Thoughts
Even though it has been said that most snakes are not dangerous unless they are provoked, it is better to be on the safer side and avoid coming in contact with them at all.
Follow the helpful tips we’ve listed in this article for keeping snakes away when sleeping on the ground and you won’t have to worry about coming in contact with snakes or have them disturbing your peace.