Garden Snakes: How to Attract Garter and Grass Snakes to Your Yard

Depending on where you live, your local ‘garden snake’ may be either a ‘garter snake’ (the Americas) or the ‘grass snake' (Europe).

Characteristics of Garter and Grass Snakes

The American garter snake and the Eurasian grass snake are completely different species that occupy the same ecological niche across the world.

Both are smallish snakes (usually no longer than 3 feet) with bright patterns that live in a variety of habitats, including woods, rocky regions, swamps, wet meadows, marshes, irrigation and drainage ditches, damp woodlands, farms, and parks.

They’re opportunistic feeders, eating whatever they come across: frogs, slugs, toads, grubs, salamanders, garden snails, worms, minnows, leeches, and occasionally mice and young birds. In captivity they can live up to 10 years, though 3-5 years is a normal span in the wild.

Creating a Habitat for Garden Snakes

One of the best things you can do is to provide snakes with a safe sunning area – a broad, flat rock in a sunny spot with other rocks placed next to it to give the snake an escape path if one of its enemies comes hunting. Rock walls are usually good denning areas, as are rocky hideaways near streams. In a pinch, a broken clay pot can be used as a den for a smaller garden snake. Some wildscapers construct den areas for their resident garden snakes to sleep and hibernate in.

A source of water large enough for the snake to swim in is important if you want to keep your garden snakes nearby. They can live quite happily in a backyard pond – as long as it’s been stocked with minnows. Because grass snakes and garter snakes will also eat other snakes, they’ll help control the population of less desirable snakes – up to a point. Once the other snakes (kingsnake, etc.) get large enough, the garden snake quits being a menace and starts being dinner.

When fall comes, the garden snake may desert your garden to find a winter hibernation den. American garter snakes hibernate in groups of a hundred or more, sleeping together in a tight knot. When spring comes, they wake, mate, and go their separate ways.

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