How to keep water moccasins out of my duck pond

[goatsandpeacocks]

I’m making a new duck enclosure that will be chain link fenced in for 5 (maybe more) ducks. It includes a pond but i’m not sure how to deter snakes. I’ve looked up plants that deter snakes but don’t know which are safe for ducks. Should i put fish in the pond to eat frog eggs so there’s no food for snakes? Please Help!!

 

[Jenbirdee]

I’m making a new duck enclosure that will be chain link fenced in for 5 (maybe more) ducks. It includes a pond but i’m not sure how to deter snakes. I’ve looked up plants that deter snakes but don’t know which are safe for ducks. Should i put fish in the pond to eat frog eggs so there’s no food for snakes? Please Help!!

http://www.cbbirds.net/toxicnon-toxic.html this link tells you what plants are toxic and nontoxic for birds (including ducks) It sounds nice that you are making a pond for your ducks. I don't know how to keep snakes out, but one thing I know is that ducks will eat the fish if they are small fish.

 

[raingarden]

Cheap bird netting is deadly to snakes. They get tangled in it and die. It works so well I felt bad for killing so many brown water snakes. But, you have to find a mesh size that is just large enough for the snake to get its head through.

 

[texsuze]

Wondering what part of the world you're located in? Are snakes a problem around your place right now? Also, how large a pond do you envision? Swimming pool size or 2 acre? Damming off part of a creek or digging a free-standing pond with supplemental water? Just thinking, since you might not even need to worry about snakes until they actually appear, if they even do. Avian predators might be more problematic than snakes, just thinking out loud.

 

[McChooky]

They make a mesh netting to put around pens to deter snakes but birds can get tangled in them too. Snake traps that resemble a minnow trap is very effective.

 

[goatsandpeacocks]

Wondering what part of the world you're located in? Are snakes a problem around your place right now? Also, how large a pond do you envision? Swimming pool size or 2 acre? Damming off part of a creek or digging a free-standing pond with supplemental water? Just thinking, since you might not even need to worry about snakes until they actually appear, if they even do. Avian predators might be more problematic than snakes, just thinking out loud.

i’m moving to a property located in Grove oklahoma so high humidity. The pond plan is roughly 12x12 but can expand if needed (ground here is wet and rocky) in the back of my 30 acres it floods and there’s 2 other ponds so plenty of water. The pen will be next to my peafowl/chicken coop (32x48 foot runs) so i can get water from there as well. the property is very wooded as it used to be a christmas tree farm so the snake proofing is really just precautionary. I could put horse panel over the top to prevent avian predators as my peafowl pen is going to be made of horse panel.

 

[McChooky]

i’m moving to a property located in Grove oklahoma so high humidity. The pond plan is roughly 12x12 but can expand if needed (ground here is wet and rocky) in the back of my 30 acres it floods and there’s 2 other ponds so plenty of water. The pen will be next to my peafowl/chicken coop (32x48 foot runs) so i can get water from there as well. the property is very wooded as it used to be a christmas tree farm so the snake proofing is really just precautionary. I could put horse panel over the top to prevent avian predators as my peafowl pen is going to be made of horse panel.

Pipe snake trap

 

[McChooky]

Funnel traps

 

[Captain13]

You can use the minnow traps or make your own. There are some good YouTube videos on building and using them.

Recently a man here pulled his water meter cover to shut off his water and was bit in the hand by a cotton mouth moccasin. He lives on a small lake. I heard from a friend that somebody built a trap and caught several moccasins at the waters edge by the man’s place. They do work.