How Snakebites Happen and How to Avoid Them

A question just came up in a request to join the National Snakebite Support group on Facebook about preventing snakebite, and this is one of my favorite soapbox topics because the answer is much simpler than people think.

One thing that all snakebite victims have in common is this: they got close enough to the snake to be bitten.

That sounds obvious, but it really is the entirety of the problem.

Extend your arms out to your sides. If you’re an adult, fingertip to fingertip is probably somewhere around five or six feet. For any native snake in the United States, if you are that far away from the snake, you are completely safe. You are outside the danger zone. The snake is not going to launch itself across the yard or chase you down. That is not a thing snakes do, despite what your cousin’s friend swears happened to him when nobody else was around.

Snakes do not bite people because they are angry, evil, aggressive, or looking for a fight. They bite because a large animal has gotten too close and they feel threatened. From the snake’s point of view, you are not “a person.” You are a huge, dangerous animal that might step on it, grab it, corner it, or kill it.

So how do people get close enough to be bitten?

There are two ways:

Accidental — You did not see the snake. You stepped near it, reached near it, sat near it, picked up something it was under, or put your hand or foot somewhere the snake already was. The snake felt threatened and defended itself.

Intentional — You saw the snake and decided to catch it, move it, poke it, pick it up, pose with it, kill it, or otherwise turn a harmless distance into a bite-distance problem. Again, the snake felt threatened and defended itself.

So here is my 100% guaranteed never-get-bitten plan. It is not complicated. There are only two rules.

Rule 1: Do not try to catch or kill snakes.

Rule 2: Do not put your hands or feet anywhere you cannot see.

That’s it.

Don’t reach blindly into brush piles, wood piles, holes, rock crevices, tall grass, buckets, sheds, under tarps, under boards, or behind stacked materials. Look before you step. Look before you reach. Use a flashlight at night. Wear shoes outside. Use a tool instead of your bare hand when moving things that have been sitting on the ground.

And if you see a snake? Great. A snake you see, and keep your distance from, is not a threat to you. Step back. Give it room. Let it leave. If it needs to be moved because it is somewhere truly dangerous, call someone who knows how to do that safely.

The most dangerous snake is often not the one you saw. It is the one you did not see — or the one you decided to mess with.

Q: Should I kill snakes I find in my yard?

A: No. Don't

First, trying to kill a snake is one of the best ways to get bitten. You are taking a situation where you were safe at a distance and deliberately moving yourself into the danger zone.

Second, killing one snake does not make your yard “safe.” Removing one snake from your yard no more makes your yard snake-proof than removing one car from a highway makes it safe for your kids to play in traffic. The habitat is still there. The food sources are still there. Other snakes can still move through.

If you want to reduce the risk of snake encounters, focus on the things you can control: watch where you put your hands and feet, wear protective footwear, use a flashlight in the dark, keep grass trimmed, reduce clutter, move wood and debris away from the house, control rodents, and teach kids to stop, back up, and tell an adult if they see a snake.

The goal is not to kill every snake. The goal is to stop putting people within biting distance.

To learn more about coexisting with snakes, please join Snake Identification: Discussion and Resources.