8 Ways To Keep Snakes Out Of Your Campsite

Snakes are venomous creatures that you might want to avoid while you are camping. So, how can you keep snakes away from a campsite?

Some ways to keep snakes away from the campsite are regularly cleaning the camp tents, storing food in a good place, and putting on safety clothing. Other measures include; monitoring the place as you walk and creating noise through music.

Snakes are carnivores in nature; they hunt and feed on rodents such as squirrels, mice, chipmunks, and rats, among other prey. 

Any food leftovers in the campground can attract these rodents to the campground, which will then draw the snakes, leading to the creation of a large food chain in the area. 

Snakes like to move around campgrounds because they offer an important place to get food and warmth when it is cold. 

Therefore, it is important that you have concrete measures which will help keep the snakes and the rodents away from your camping area because snakes are venomous animals.

One of the main natures of snakes is that they are reclusive and like to stay alone. They fear humans just as much as we fear them, and thus, if they encounter us, they will either crawl away or try to defend themselves by attacking us. 

Additionally, snakes can match the environment through camouflage. 

They like staying in long grasses while hunting or hiding from predators. Therefore, it is crucial to prepare for anything if you are going to a campground.

How to keep Snakes away from Campsites

Choosing a Snake-free Camping Site

In the US, some states, such as Texas and Arizona, are known to have an abundant population of venomous snakes.

Therefore, it is ideal to research the kind of wild animals present in the camping ground you are interested in visiting before you make bookings and traveling arrangements. 

As we had outlined earlier, snakes prefer solitude and will attack or crawl away if they see their predators. Therefore, it is important to choose a campground that is open and has short grass.

It is also advisable to have good lighting, especially through the night, to help you notice snakes and take precautions as you walk away from them.

Regular Cleaning of your Tent

As we had mentioned earlier, snakes will go to campsites because they may be food leftovers or rodents that they could hunt and eat.

Therefore, before you set up your camp tents and other equipment, it is ideal for cleaning the campground and ensuring no food leftovers. 

Additionally, collect any other waste around the area and ensure you properly dispose of any food leftovers. 

It is also important to clean your tent every day to eliminate any waste that would attract snakes and rodents.

Putting on Appropriate Clothes and Shoes

It is important to put on the appropriate clothes that may make you camouflage with the environment to make it hard for snakes to identify you. 

Additionally, wearing clothes to fully cover areas such as hands, lower legs, and ankles is essential because they represent the most susceptible areas to get snake bites. 

A good example of clothes to wear are jeans and hard khakis because their fabrics decrease the likelihood of the snake’s fang from penetrating your skin.

It is ideal for wearing thick boots that cover your lower leg effectively when it comes to shoes

The boot should resist the snake’s fang from piercing and penetrating through and reaching your skin.

Creating Noise through Music and other Sounds

Typically, snakes are shy and will flee away if they see or hear sounds made by human beings. 

Therefore, an ideal way of ensuring that snakes don’t come into your camping area is to frighten them away using sounds.

You can carry a speaker and play music with relatively high bass and volume. 

This will make snakes flee away from the area because they don’t like to get vibrations. Other ways of making noise include; talking with your friends and singing.

Use of Snake Repellants, Granules, or Pellets

Even though not all repellents are effective, some contain chemicals that produce pungent odors that are extremely sensitive to snakes. 

Typically, if a repellant has elements such as ammonia and vinegar, it will be effective because snakes don’t like their scents. Therefore, if you don’t have a repellent containing ammonia or vinegar, you can improvise on soaking a cloth with ammonia and then scatter it on the surrounding area of your camping ground. 

Additionally, there are other products that you can use, such as snake pellets, sprays, and granules. 

One of the advantages of these products is that they are made entirely from a natural extract that provides scents sensitive to snakes.

Making a Campfire in the Evening

Like cats, snakes are typically active and tend to look for food after sundown. Therefore, there is a high chance of getting snakes in the evening than early in the morning. 

The best approach to prevent snakes from coming into your camping round is to light up a campfire in the evening. 

Snakes fear fire and are uncomfortable when there is smoke. Ensure to maintain the fire until late at night to keep the area free from snakes.

If you feel like sleeping, you can carefully sprinkle small smolders around the tent so that the smoke and heat produced keep you safe until you wake up the next morning.

Checking for Snakes before getting into the tent

Even though you are taking every precaution to ensure that snakes are out of the campground, it is still advisable to check your tent frequently before you take a nap or rest inside. 

It is because the snake can find a tent with favorable heat conditions to keep it warm and comfortable.

It may also find the tent a hiding place from other predators or a suitable place to hunt for rodents since they are cunning creatures.

Therefore, the location you are interested in camping in should guide you in ensuring that snakes don’t get into your tent

If you camp in a region with snakes, you must carefully check items such as sleeping bags, boots, bags, and hiking shoes before using them. 

It is because they provide a place where snakes frequently hide as they enter the tent.

Keep in mind that snakes are quicker than us, so as you inspect the tent, be cautious about any attack.

Sprinkle your Hair around the Campground

As we mentioned earlier, we hate snakes just as much as they do hate us. 

Therefore, they prefer staying away from us through any means necessary. One of the best ways to ensure that snakes stay away from our camping area is to let them know that we are near them. 

One way is to save our hair as we comb or brush it. 

Take the hair and sprinkle it around the camping area so that when the snakes come near and smell the hair, they will understand that there are people nearby and leave the area. The advantage of this measure is that it is simple and cost-efficient.

Key Takeaways

• Snakes contain venom that is enough to kill if not treated in time
• Snakes prefer staying in solitude and will attack if they feel threatened
• Snakes often go to camping sites to look for food and find warmth
• Before you book camping arrangements, it is essential to check if there are wild animals
• There are various cost-effective methods you can use to ensure that snakes stay away