Do Lizards Keep Snakes Away? (Plus 9 Methods that Work) - My Backyard Life (2024)

If you’re one of the many people who are afraid of snakes, then you shouldn’t be ashamed. Many people find snakes to be somewhat chilling, and you probably don’t like seeing them in your yard.

You might even be looking for good ways to keep snakes off of your property so that you can be at ease. Some people say that lizards are good for keeping snakes away, but is this actually true?

Keep reading to learn about lizards and whether they really are capable of scaring away the local snake population. You’ll also get some handy tips that can help you to keep snakes from overrunning your yard if you’re worried about them.

Some Lizards Might Eat Snakes

There are some lizards out there that can eat snakes, but most lizards will get eaten by snakes. In Australia, there is a lizard known as the blue-tongue lizard that eats small snakes.

However, once the snakes have grown to a certain size, the blue-tongue lizard might be eaten by the snakes. This means that lizards aren’t really great snake deterrents because most of them will wind up as snake food.

You also have to keep in mind that there are so many different types of lizards and snakes out there. What will happen when a specific lizard meets a specific type of snake can be a difficult question to answer, but snakes generally come out on top.

If you think that attracting more lizards to your yard will help to keep snakes at bay, then you should know that it likely won’t work. You should look into other methods that are more practical for repelling snakes.

1 – Natural Snake Repellents

Natural snake repellents exist, and there are a large number of different options to consider. Many of these will be inexpensive, and they do a good job of keeping snakes out of your yard.

2 – Cinnamon and Clove Oil

Cinnamon and clove oil will help you to keep snakes away from your yard. You can mix cinnamon and clove oil up in a simple spray bottle to spray it around areas that you’d like to keep snakes away from.

3 – Garlic and Onion

Garlic and onions can both be excellent snake repellents if you have some handy. These are incredibly common ingredients that most people keep around the house, and you can use them to help with your snake woes.

To get good results, it’s possible to mix garlic and onion together with rock salt that you can spread around the yard. It should deter snakes from coming around, and you’ll be glad that you did this.

4 – Ammonia

Ammonia might be rather potent, but it’s going to be a good weapon to utilize against snakes. Spraying ammonia around your property in specific spots can help to keep snakes away.

The only downside is how strong the ammonia scent can be. Even so, putting up with the scent of ammonia is preferable to having to deal with certain types of snakes being in your yard.

5 – Vinegar

If you’re at all concerned about snakes getting into bodies of water, then using vinegar will be a good idea. You can pour some vinegar around the perimeter of bodies of water to keep snakes out.

People often use this to protect swimming pools and ponds from snakes. It’s easy to do, and it’s not going to be a problem to get some vinegar that you can use.

6 – Predator Urine

Predator urine can scare snakes and make them want to stay away from your property. There are quite a few natural snake predators that you can consider, but most people go with fox urine.

Spray some products that contain fox urine around your yard to keep snakes away. This is very effective, but you’ll likely have to spend money on buying products if you go this route and that might make the natural repellents a better option.

7 – Ultrasonic Repellent Devices

Ultrasonic repellent devices can also make a difference in your yard. These are devices that you can stake into the ground to repel snakes from the area.

They produce sounds at frequencies that snakes can hear and they scare them off. It’s also convenient because these devices are solar-powered and you can just leave them in the ground so that you won’t have to worry about snakes so much.

8 – Clear Clutter in Your Yard

Clearing clutter in your yard is another thing that you should do to keep snakes out. Snakes will hide in wood piles, rocks, and other types of debris that are lying around.

You should cut your grass short to leave no places for snakes to hide. Keeping your yard clean will help to keep the things that snakes prey upon out of your yard as well.

For instance, rodents will be more likely to come to the yard if you leave pet food out or if you don’t clean up fallen berries from trees or bushes. Snakes prey upon rodents, and that will attract snakes to your yard.

Keeping your yard tidy makes it far less likely that snakes will come around. They won’t have as many safe places to hide, and their food sources will likely be elsewhere.

9 – Snake Traps

Some people decide to utilize snake traps to kill the snakes that come to their yards. This is something that you can do, but it might not be necessary.

It’s probably better to just prevent snakes from coming around in the first place. The repellent methods are likely going to be less expensive than buying snake traps, and people who have children or pets usually won’t want to place traps in the yard in the first place.

Exterminators

Of course, if you have many snakes on your property, it might be a good idea to call professionals. Exterminators can come out to your property to catch any snakes for you.

This is a lot safer than attempting to remove a snake yourself. Exterminators have the right equipment to handle snakes safely, and you’ll be able to breathe a sigh of relief when things are done.

After the snakes have been removed from the property, it’ll be easier to start using the snake repellent and deterrent methods listed above.