I have a pond that is loaded with nice bass, but is equally loaded with large cottonmouth water moccasins. I've tried all the same snake control measures that cleared our other ponds (increasing activity around the bank, mowing close to the water on a regular basis)and nothing seems to work. I damn near got bit on Sunday morning by a bastard lurking in the four inches of grass remaining at the edge of the bank.

Are there any snake control methods other than shooting them? Do they have any natural predators that I could introduce?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Brent

Maybe hawks and owls would eat them. ??
Other then keeping the grass cut low and killing them when you can I cannot think of anything. I know that my dad use to put out moth balls to keep snakes from getting under the house growing up. Not sure what that would do to your pond, but I would think it would keep the snakes out of a specific grassy area.
As kids we use to get in a small 8ft john and just row around the ponds looking for the suckers. they would not know what to do when approached from the water side a lot of times. then we would just smoke them with a 410.

Good Luck...I hate snakes.

Yep....bang-bang-bang!

Try fish traps, especially those designed for trapping BG. The traps will get a small fish and then the snake will go into the trap to catch the fish and will drown. I removed 11 dead snakes from one pond last year with this method and haven't seen one since. The traps will work when you can't.

Yes, the fish trap method is a great way to get rid of cottonmouths (Water Moccasin). You can also put fish heads. The mesh will have to be small enough that the snakes cannot get through the mesh. Make sure the top of th trap is below the water or you will have to deal with the like snakes. Good luck and let us know if you are successful.

Yea meadowlarks suggestion works really well. Catches the smaller ones, too.

You could always get rid of those green fish they are eating and put some carp in there!

Its about this time of year when they get real aggressive.

The only predator I know of, other than you, is big fish or gators.

I've caught quite a few with traps but I like larger traps. When the fish get in the trap, the snake goes in to get them. They will drown. However, if they are still alive, just toss the trap back in the water and come back in a couple of hours.

.410, 12 gauge, whatever other caliber u may feel like usin. or try a shovel to chop em up.

22 pistol with rat shot works pretty well.

I think people should try to learn to identify between a moccasin/cottonmouth and other harmless water snakes.

I do not think it is a good idea to purge all snakes from a pond. A few snakes are a good thing, as they help keep the pond free of dying or sick fish.

That being said, if I see a moccasin, I will shoot it on site.

Gotta agree. I don't like to kill anything that I'm not going to eat or is not a problem.

Very few snakes are poisonous. My problem is that they can make me hurt myself.

i can get rid of them for ya! 3 dollars a snake.

Post a couple of pics of the snake if possible for ID.

Once you get rid of the BIG snakes the bass will help thin any small ones left. I have been fishing a 12+ac. tank for 5 years and only saw 1 snake. He would NOT spook into the water. This lake had too many bass in it and they would eat anything moving on the suface. I like to throw a big 10" worm no weight and swim in back sometimes about 1/2 way. Big bass love to eat snakes.

Snapping turtles are a cottonmouth snake predator.

.22 long rifle. one shot one kill

plus it is fun and good target practice

If the pond is loaded w/big bass,I will personally come stay at the pond until I kill all the snakes.

I'm telling you, 410 slug, I had one when I was a kid, called a snake charmer and it worked like a champ. You are going to have to work real hard to kill them all and I think killing them all is all but impossible. I don’t even look to see which are cotton mouths and which are just water snakes. To me the only good snake is a dead snake! Of course once you've been bitten you can be on the "kill them all" side. Poisonous or not a snake bite hurts!

Steve

In my experience, the majority of snakes in bass ponds (as opposed to shallow wetlands) are diamoned back water snakes. They look mean and will bite but are not poisoneous. Likely that may be what they are although I realize that most assume the worst and shoot. The one good thing about this snake is they primarily eat mud cats if they are in the lake.

Yep, 22 long rifle loaded with rat shot. Works every time.

Not sure what a cotton mouth or water moccasin is but I'm pretty sure that if a snake doesn't have a rattle it is a cobra and must be dealt with accordingly. From what I learned in the OT, they best practice is to pee on them or blow them up.

Better make sure of your range when peeing...that's a mistake made only once.

Get a few pig's to clean out the snake's, then you will have bacon to eat.