Wildlife division · Snakes
A snake in the house.
Shut the door on the room, keep pets and children away from it, and call. We come out, deal with the animal, and then look for the thing that actually matters — the gap it came through, and what it was following.
1–3 hours on site · Photos and a written estimate · Any fee confirmed up front
Where they turn up, and what it means
Most snake calls are not a snake in the living room. They are a snake somewhere you were not expecting to meet one, and the location usually tells us more than the animal does.
- Crawlspace or basement — the most common by a distance, and nearly always a rodent question underneath
- Attic — less common than people think, but it happens; black rat snakes climb well and will follow mice up a wall cavity
- Garage, shed or woodpile — cover plus rodents, which is the whole recipe
- Shed skins in insulation, on joists or behind stored boxes — evidence of a resident rather than a visitor
- Inside the living space — usually arrived from a crawlspace through a gap around plumbing or an unsealed floor penetration
If it is loose in the house right now, do not wait to read the rest of this page. Call (826) 203-0343 — we prioritise it.
Why your house
A snake indoors is a rodent report.
This is the single most useful thing we can tell you, and it is the part most call-outs skip. Snakes do not nest in buildings for warmth or company. They come in behind a food supply, and in a Virginia crawlspace that food supply is mice.
So the call that ends with the snake being carried out has solved the thing you can see. If nobody looks at why it was worth the trip, you have a crawlspace with a mouse population and a proven route in, and next season is a coin flip.
How they get in
Through gaps that are smaller than you would credit, and almost always at ground level: a crawlspace vent with a rusted or torn screen, a gap where a foundation vent frame has pulled away, an unsealed penetration where a pipe or a cable passes through the block, a garage door seal that no longer meets the slab.
These are the same openings that let mice in, which is convenient — closing them properly deals with both, and it is ordinary exclusion work rather than anything exotic.
What we will not do
Identify a species from a description over the phone, or tell you an unfamiliar snake is safe to approach. Central Virginia has both harmless snakes that get mistaken for dangerous ones and one venomous species that is genuinely common here, and a confident guess from either of us is worth nothing. Send a photograph from a safe distance if you can. If anybody has been bitten, that is a medical emergency and not a phone call to us.
How the call runs
Containment first, over the phone
If it is indoors, we will talk you through shutting it into one room before we set off, because that is what turns an urgent problem into a manageable one. It costs nothing and it works.
Then the animal
Handled by someone doing it deliberately with the right equipment, rather than by a homeowner with a broom — which is how a surprising number of bites happen.
Then the actual job
A look at the crawlspace, the foundation line and the vents, to find where it came in and whether there is a rodent population keeping the door interesting. You get photographs of what we find and a written estimate for closing it. If the answer is mice, that is a separate and very fixable problem, and we will say so.
Sealing work carries a 1-year warranty unless we have discussed otherwise.
Snake questions we get asked
There's a snake in my house right now. What do I do?
Keep everyone and the pets in another room, shut the door, and put a towel along the gap at the bottom of it — that alone contains the situation in most houses. Do not try to catch it or move it yourself, and do not corner it. Then call us on (826) 203-0343. A snake loose indoors is one of the situations we prioritise.
Can you tell me over the phone whether it's venomous?
We will not guess, and you should be wary of anyone who does. A photograph from a safe distance is genuinely useful and we are happy to look at one, but identifying a snake from a description is unreliable and the stakes are too high. If anyone has been bitten, that is a medical call, not a wildlife one — seek medical advice immediately.
Why is there a snake in my crawlspace?
Almost always because something it eats is in there. Snakes follow rodents, and a crawlspace or attic with a mouse population is a food source with a roof on it. That is why we treat a snake as a symptom: get it out, then find out what drew it in, because otherwise you have solved the visible half of the problem.
Will it come back?
That one, probably not. Another one, quite possibly — for the same reason the first one came. Snakes get in through the same gaps everything else does: a crawlspace vent with a torn screen, a gap under a threshold, an unsealed utility penetration. Closing those is the part that changes the outcome.
Do you kill them?
Not as a matter of course, and most of the snakes we are called out to are harmless and doing you a favour outdoors. What we do in a given situation depends on the species and where it is, and we will tell you what we are doing and why rather than deciding quietly on your behalf.
I only see shed skins, never the snake.
Then something has been living there long enough to outgrow itself at least once, which usually means a reliable food supply nearby. Worth an inspection — the skins are telling you about the rodent situation as much as the snake.
Related
Snake in the house? Shut the door and call.
We prioritise anything loose in the living space.
1–3 hours on site · Photos and a written estimate · Any fee confirmed up front