What Should I Do If I Find A Snake In My House?
For many people, finding a snake in their home is the worst of nightmares. It doesn’t matter how small the snake may be. People generally panic when they find a snake and either attempt to kill it right away or run out of the house screaming.
Both ideas are bad ones. So what should you do?
The first thing you should do is prepare – right now. Call a local pet shop and get the name of a reptile catcher. Put that number on your refrigerator or in your phone’s address book. Trust me, you may never have to use this number but if the emergency ever arises, you will be thankful you have it.
If you find a snake in your house, the absolute worst thing you can do is run out of your house. When you run out of the house, the snake likely will sense your panic and will attempt to hide. Good luck trying to find a snake that is hiding in your house. Even for an expert, this is tough and can take as long as a day. Sometimes the snake is never found, and that can leave you afraid to live in your own house.
So what should you do? Remain as calm as possible and keep your eye on the snake, no matter where it goes. (Obviously, if you feel you or your family is in danger, you should leave your home.) If the snake goes into a closet or under a bed, try to stay where you can see if the snake moves again. Have somebody bring you a phone or run quickly to grab the phone.
Then go back to the snake and call the reptile catcher. Try to give as many details about the snake, such as what it looks like, the coloring on its back, and its length. (People always think a snake is longer than it actually is.) Stay in the general area of the snake until the reptile catcher gets there.
Some people automatically grab for a shovel or the handle-end of a broom and try to kill the snake. Again, that’s a bad idea. Most people miss, and the snake will immediately go hide, usually while you are too scared to notice. And if you do manage to hit the snake, you may simply anger it, causing it to lash out at you.
No, the best course of action is to remain calm, keep your eye on the snake, and call a reptile catcher. If you don’t have that number, call 911.
By the way, on a funny note, I’ve been around snakes my whole life but even strange snake sightings can happen to me. Take a look at the video on this page. This snake actually managed to get into my house, crawl by me and get on my camera tripod – all without me noticing until he finally settled down.
Make note of how I remain calm and get him out of my house.
(Okay, let’s say you have a soft spot for snakes and would like to make your yard a habitat for them. How do you do that? Read my next hub.)
