Sharing the Land — And Drawing the Line
Living Wisely with Venomous Snakes in the Ozark Hills
by Patricia Mikkelson
We have a boulder problem. Or rather, we have a boulder blessing that comes with a complication. Here on our homestead in the Ozark hills of Madison County, Arkansas, we are surrounded by the kind of ancient, lichen-covered rocks that make you feel like you are living inside a psalm — like the land itself has been here since the beginning, holding stories we can only guess at. And it has. But those big boulders that I love, the ones that anchor our hillside and give the whole place its wild, holy character — they are also, it turns out, a five-star resort for rattlesnakes and copperheads.
We have found them in the garden. We have found them near the house. And we have learned, the way homesteaders always learn, that good land stewardship sometimes means making hard decisions about which creatures we can live alongside and which ones present a danger we cannot responsibly ignore — especially when little ones are running barefoot through the rows.
So let me share what we have learned, practically and honestly, about finding, trapping, and when necessary, removing venomous snakes from a homestead like ours.
Know What You Are Dealing With
In the Arkansas Ozarks, the two venomous snakes you are most likely to encounter are the timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) and the copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix). Both are pit vipers, both are native and ecologically important, and both are genuinely dangerous — especially to children, the elderly, and pets.
Timber rattlesnakes are heavy-bodied, often yellowish-brown or gray with dark crossbands, and they carry that unmistakable rattle. They tend to be slower moving and more reluctant to strike than their reputation suggests, but when cornered — especially near those warm boulders where they den — they will defend themselves.
Copperheads are arguably more dangerous simply because they are so well camouflaged. Their hourglass banding of copper and brown looks almost exactly like the leaf litter and dappled light of an Ozark forest floor. They are smaller than rattlesnakes and quicker, and they are everywhere in our part of the world during the warmer months.
Both species love exactly what we have: rocky outcroppings, wood piles, brush piles, and the warmth that radiates from boulders long after the sun goes down.
Finding the Problem Areas
Before you can address a snake situation, you need to understand where they are living and moving. On our land, the boulders were obvious — but here is a more systematic way to think about it.
Watch at the right times. Venomous snakes in the Ozarks are most active in early morning and evening during the heat of summer. In spring and fall, they may be out in the middle of the day, warming themselves. Walk your property perimeter and garden edges at these times, moving slowly and watching where you step.
Look for the corridors. Snakes do not randomly appear — they follow paths between water, shelter, and food. If you have boulders near the house, trace the most likely routes a snake would take from those boulders to your garden or door. Those corridors are your priority zones.
Use a snake board. A piece of plywood, tin roofing, or old carpet laid near the boulders will attract snakes who want to hide under something flat. Check it regularly — from the far end, using a long stick to flip it back toward you so you are not crouching over whatever is beneath it.
Look for shed skins. Finding a shed skin near your garden beds or beneath the porch tells you exactly where a snake has been spending time.
Trapping
There are effective, humane trapping options that allow you to remove a snake alive — which I appreciate, because I do not believe in killing what I do not have to kill, even when a creature is dangerous. A living rattlesnake relocated to a rocky hillside far from human activity is doing exactly what God designed it to do.
Glue board traps are the most widely available option. These are the same large sticky boards used for rodents, placed flat on the ground along boulder bases or garden edges. A snake crossing them becomes stuck. The snake can then be transported and released by pouring vegetable oil over the glue, which neutralizes it. Important: check these traps daily — a snake left on a glue board in Ozark summer heat will not survive long.
Funnel traps (also called minnow traps or wire funnel traps) can be baited with a live mouse and placed along known travel corridors. The snake enters through the funnel and cannot back out. These are reusable and cause no injury to the snake.
Snake tongs and a 5-gallon bucket with a locking lid are essential tools if you encounter a snake you need to remove immediately. Snake tongs (available online for around $30-50) allow you to pick up even a large rattlesnake safely from a distance of 3-4 feet. Drop it into the bucket, seal the lid, and transport it at least two miles from your property before release — snakes have strong homing instincts within a shorter range than that.
When Removal Is Not Enough
I want to be honest here: there are situations on a family homestead where trapping and relocating is not sufficient. If snakes are consistently denning in boulders twenty feet from where the children play, if you have found them multiple times in the garden rows, if you have a dog or a child who has already had a close encounter — at some point, responsible stewardship means lethal removal.
In Arkansas, it is legal to kill venomous snakes on your own property. If you choose this route:
- Use a long-handled garden hoe or a heavy-duty implement that keeps you well out of striking range. A rattlesnake can strike roughly half to two-thirds of its body length.
- A single decisive blow to the head is the most humane method.
- Do not handle the head even after death. The venom reflex can persist for up to an hour in a severed head — this is not a myth. Use your tongs to dispose of it.
- Some homesteaders use a .22 rifle or shotgun with snake shot (a small-pellet load designed exactly for this purpose). This is effective and keeps you at a safe distance.
If you have an active den situation in boulders near your home, you may want to contact the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission or a local wildlife removal professional. Some wildlife control companies specialize in snake exclusion and den removal.
Reducing the Attraction
The most sustainable long-term solution is making your land less hospitable to denning snakes near the house. This does not mean destroying the boulders — it means modifying what is around them.
- Clear brush and debris from the immediate boulder area. Snakes feel exposed without cover.
- Remove wood piles from near the house and store them away from high-traffic areas.
- Control the rodent population. Snakes follow their food. If you have mice in your garden or beneath your boulders, you will have snakes. Address the mice and you address part of the snake draw.
- Consider a perimeter of coarse materials like sharp gravel or cedar mulch immediately around the house foundation. Snakes prefer smooth travel and will often avoid rough-textured barriers.
- Plant marigolds liberally around garden edges. While not a guaranteed repellent, there is good anecdotal evidence that strong-scented plants discourage snake movement through garden areas.
- Cinnamon oil, clove oil, and cedarwood oil sprayed around the boulder perimeter can serve as a deterrent, though they require reapplication after rain.
A Word About Living in the Tension
I will be honest: I do not enjoy this part of homestead life. I believe all living things carry the fingerprint of their Creator, and there is something in me that grieves even a necessary death. But I also know that the same Scripture that roots my veganism in the original shalom of Eden calls me to be a wise steward — of this land, of these grandchildren, of this community we are building here.
Rattlesnakes and copperheads are not evil. They are doing exactly what they were made to do, and in a world without small children and bare feet and garden rows, I would simply leave them to it. But we do not live in that world. We live on a hillside in Madison County, Arkansas, where the boulders are beautiful and the snakes are real, and wisdom means holding both truths at the same time.
So we watch carefully. We walk slowly. We keep our tools close. We relocate when we can and act decisively when we must. And we remain grateful — even for the complications — that this is the land we get to tend.
Thanks to Claud.ai for writing most of this article for me. I agree with everything.
