Subject: Re: [permaculture] encouraging garter snakes as slug control
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:52:54 -0500
Think like a garter snake: they need mesic habitat (e.g. a pond), tangled
brush piles and berry brambles to hide in, warm open sunny spots to bask
adjacent to the pond and the brush piles (for a quick escape). Vacant rodent
holes are good for snake dens too.
Some garter snakes gather in communal hibernacula during the winter- big
toroporous snake slumber parties in rock clefts. I'm not sure how you go
about creating the right conditions for a snake hibernaculum or if you'd
want to- I've seen photos of many thousands of garter snakes sharing a
single hibernaculum.
Snakes need peace and to be left alone too. If you have nature-oriented
kids, the snake will likely flee from being overly loved. No snake in my
childhood backyard stuck around for very long.
If you live in a suburban habitat rich with subsidized meso-predators like
raccoons and the neighbor's cat- there's a good chance your snake habitat
will remain vacant.
just some thoughts on garter snakes...
...though I wouldn't even dare try to control a slug :)
best,
Steve
On Tue, Jul 21, 2009 at 2:37 PM, paul wheaton <paul@richsoil.com> wrote: