Need to control snakes at barn, will mothballs hurt my horses

We have had the same problem at my barn, the snakes just come into the barn & light right in the middle of the walkway when the suns out. We've put up with them for a while but alot of the younger kids that ride at our barn r scared of them, & the problem was that they were poisonous & were comming very close near us. Snakes keep the mice & rats down so that is why we tryed putting up with them. The mice & rats used to get into the feed, chew threw wires, Chewed holes in the stables & chewed the rugs & other equipment. We once found nearly 15 baby rats living in a rug storage box! Now we have 5 cats that live around the barn. Our friends told us to not buy the most friendliest-purebreed cats as they dont have the best idea of catching rats & mice, we just got moggies & there the best thing that has happend to our barn to keeps the problem down, & occasionaly they bring in some baby snakes from outside so there good snake catchers too. The best thing to do is that if u see a snake just leave if there not to close were they can get into harms way, & if they can hurt someone just call ur local wildlife center & they should be able to come out & collect it. If there not dangerous its just best to leave them if there not going to do any harm. I wouldnt be putting mothballs around as who knows what could start playing with them.

Other suggestion: Cats!!! Snakes hate cats. I have two indoor/outdoor cats and besides once seeing a huge black snake in the feed room (the female cat sat on the feed bin looking at it like ''help yurself big boy!''), I do not have a snake problem. My cats are playful, when they were kittens, they jumped on anything that moved!
Only draw back to this is, the cats can not get all the mice.

Do not try to get rid of the snakes, otherwise u will be posting a question on how to get rid of mice & rats. Send them to me. I would love to have every one of them!! The barn where I board is nearly over run with rats. Rats do physical damage to property. They chew through plastic grain bins, make holes in the walls, nests in the hay, deficate anywhere they please, & dig huge tunnels under the stalls & aisleways that eventually cave in, leaving large holes. Then when u spend days filling in the holes, the rats magically dig all over again seemingly overnight. (Bet ur snakes can not do all that!)

Snakes r very beneficial as some people already posted. Not sure where u live but here in PA. we encourage Black snakes to stay around. They r very shy & will eat the poisonous Copperheads. If u have 0 tolerance for any type of snake here r some things u can do.
1- Put up plastic owls. Owls r a predator to snakes. I think to be most effective, move the owls to different spots every once in awhile.
2- Barnyard fowl hate snakes. A flock of chickens or Gunia (sp?)hens will either kill & eat the snakes or make them so miserable that they never return.
3- This is an old custom- fence in the area where snakes r living & put pigs in the area. As long as the pigs r fat they r safe from even poisonous snakes. Pigs have a layer of fat that even if bit by a venomous snake the venom gets absorbed in the layer of fat & never reaches the vital organs. Pigs love to eat snakes.
4- Once the snakes r gone, u can then either eat u chickens or pigs LOL!

My best way to tell you how you are able to deal with your snake problem is to clean all high brush and make sure you are cleaning all feed bins bags etc. Than maybe you could rescue a few cats and make them barn cats they will surly keep the snake problem down and the horses dont seem to mind them and they are very cheap to care for.

Mothballs r TOXIC to horses, humans, dogs, cats, etc.
Master Gardener Jerry Baker recommends mothballs as deterrent for snakes & cats. Because of the smell it is unlikely that anything would ingest them, however, I am paranoid. I do not want to cause harm to any animal just to ward off a snake.

I put them around a small inground pond once, b/c fish ARE on the menu for snakes.
I've never seen a snake leaving the area coughing & hacking from the smell, but for every snake u see, there is probably a dozen u never see.

Also, snakes r wonderful climbers, they're not just on the ground.

Is this a real threat or just ur fear of snakes? Snakes r active here most of the year. In 44 years I've only had one horse encounter a snake & get bitten. She survived without more treatment than a tetanus shot & some salve on the bite. Never missed a meal.

Snakes know they can not eat a horse, so even if bitten by a venomous species, 9 times in 10, they're not invenomated.
Snakes & horses have survived hundreds of thousands of years in the same habitat & neither has killed the other off.
I'd take that worry off my priority list

You can get put out sulfur, it burns their bellies and makes them think twice about entering. I do not know about moth balls, but can say for sure DECON is a bad idea. I am not sure what type of snakes or what area u are in. We live in the south and live in a very popular area for Cotton Mouths and Copper heads.

Mothballs r poison. It is a horrible idea. Using them will poison ur environment, & possibly ur own animals.

If the snakes r not venomous - u do not even have a problem. Snakes r great for the environment. If u poison the mice & rats, who poison the snakes, u will wind up with a huge vermin population.

To the person who recommended DECON - bad idea. It does nothing to snakes, but will kill ur pets.

We live in a fragile ecosystem. Putting out poison is like pooping in ur own drinking water.

Moth balls r made of naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene (spelling ?) & both r toxic to breathe. Too many could cause problems in an enclosed space.

There is a new snake repellent out, but I do not know how well it works. I saw it in a garden magazine. Sorry I can not remember which.

If the snakes r not venomous I suggest leaving them as they r the best rodent predator around since they can follow them into their holes. Rodents actually r vectors for several diseases which can spread to horses & or humans. Not the least of those is Hanta. A nasty virus, with a human fatality rate of between 70% & 80%. Symptoms include high fever, headaches, & sterility in men due to the high fever. Currently Hanta is fairly restricted to the western states, & is more common when rodent populations become high.

BTW be very careful with rat poison if u have dogs. I know of several dogs & even other pets killed from eating poisoned rats & mice.

I know people have their likes & dislikes, but if they're not venemous, snakes r really beneficial to have around a barn. I encourage all the rat snakes I can find to take up residence in & around my barn area. I'd whole lot rather have snakes around than mice. Mice get into the feed, poop in it.then there is the whole hanta virus thing. Mice chew up blankets, or there is the always pleasant pick up a blanket that is sat for a while & find a whole nest of the little buggers. I know people will say that is what cats r for, but I've got 6 barn cats, & it is beneath their dignity to go after a rodent. They will however, gleefully chase birds..another frustration. As for the mothballs, not sure how effective they r regarding snakes. I put them out because we had a skunk problem. They did a great job of encouraging the skunks to move on to greener pastures, but the snakes stayed around. But, sorry about the tangent there..you do want to keep the mothballs away from ur horses. They're not palatable, but I do believe they r mildly toxic.

PRS took the woerd right out of my mouth! By the way, thats a myth, horses and snakes. And my guard dog, a doberman hates snakes! He kills them! And if your not looking, he will eat them! Gross huh? Nothing exciting about watching a doberman crunch on a copperheads head...

Ask your vet if a mothball will hurt your horse I seem to remember it being an issue for some animals. There are some types of good snakes that eat harmful snakes so make sure you are not killing any good ones. Also there are electrical systems you can put up they are like stakes in the ground that scare snakes off. If you see a snake hole fill it in. Get a little terrier dog that likes to hunt snakes. And chickens I do not know why but chickens will kill snakes.

One of the best way to control snakes is to eliminate their food supply. Put out rat poison. Clean up all wood piles and seal up all feed bins get rid of used feed bags. Clean up any place that rats and mice can live. Mow down high grass, weeds and brush close to the barn. Get a cat. You should be concentrating on keeping the place rodent free. Once all the mice and rats are gone you wo not have to worry about snakes.

i would call animal control and get the pros to handle it. What kind of snakes are they?

well they will defently scare the horses snakes scare almost any animal even guard dogs. My suggwstions are probaly get a animal control to take them away once you see one ask him if he can search the area because every year i see at least 2, 3 or what ever.