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Why would a person want snakes in the garden? There are actually some very good and valid reasons that they might.

Most of the gardening that I have done has been in areas that were fairly heavily populated by western diamond backed rattlesnakes. However, there have always been a large number of other snakes that frequented the same areas, including Garter Snakes and Bull Snakes.

Bull snakes often have coloration that is remarkably like that of a rattlesnake, however, even though they can be mistaken for a diamond back, they also eat rattlesnakes. Bull snakes, then, are natural population controls for rattlers.

Garter snakes, on the other hand, are not very muscular and are no match for a rattler. However, bull snakes and garter snakes serve another useful purpose. They remove enormous numbers of garden pests from the garden that must otherwise be dealt with by the gardener. Most often, those pests are dealt with by using poisons, which leaves residue on the plants and doesn't do a lot of good for the environment.

In the case of the bull snake, its natural prey is a mouse, rats, squirrels, moles, gophers and other rodents that can quickly decimate a garden, including from under the ground. Rodents also multiply at such a rate that without the natural checks and balances, it is almost impossible to get the upper hand and eradicate them. Bull snakes are perfectly suited for removing large numbers of rodents while causing virtually no damage to the garden.

Garter snakes are much smaller, but they also remove many pests, especially crickets, grasshoppers, earwigs, and slugs. A garter snake also has a voracious appetite, so it will happily eat all of these pests that it can find. Again, it causes very little damage to the garden.

The hard part is actually to get the snakes to occupy the area around the garden. Garter snakes are water snakes, and they need a ready supply of water that they can swim in, such as a pond. Bull snakes are happier in very dry areas, such as the waste areas around some gardens. By providing each with the habitat it needs the most, we can coax them into the garden so that they can do the pest control that we'd normally have to do.

We must also remember that the snakes we'd normally see in the garden are basically shy animals and will usually retreat in the presence of man. For them to do the best job of pest control, we must give them privacy.

Having snakes in the garden is a great idea, particularly if you already have pest problems. You don't have to like them, in order to appreciate the good they do and the work they allow you not to do.

Learn more about this author, Rex Trulove.
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