Back away, keep children and pets out of the garage, and leave the big door open so the snake has a clear way out. Do not try to grab it, sweep it out or kill it. Watch from a safe distance so you can tell Michael where it went, then call Cypress Critters & Pests at 713-775-8799. Most snakes in a garage came in under a worn door seal, chasing mice or looking for a cool, dark place. Michael removes the snake and closes the gap it used.
How do I keep everyone safe while the snake is in the garage?
Treat every snake as if it could bite until someone has identified it. Keep the length of a car between you and it. Close the door from the garage into the house, and lay a towel along the bottom of that door so the snake cannot slide under it into the laundry room or the kitchen. Bring the dog and the cat inside and keep them in another room.
Do not move boxes, tools or the lawn mower to look for it. Snakes hide in the clutter along the walls, and lifting things is how most people end up close to one without meaning to. If you can see the snake, take a photo from where you stand. A clear picture helps Michael know what he is walking into.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department puts its advice plainly: “Please do not kill a snake – even a venomous one.” Going after a snake with a shovel puts you within reach of it, and it is not needed. Leave that part to Michael.
Is the snake in my garage venomous?
Most likely not, but do not bet on it. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says Texas is home to over 105 species and subspecies of snakes, and only 15 of them are potentially dangerous to people. The venomous groups it lists are copperheads, cottonmouths, rattlesnakes and the coral snake. The department describes the southern copperhead, the western cottonmouth and the timber rattlesnake as snakes of the eastern part of the state, and the Texas coral snake as a snake of the southeastern half.
Telling a venomous snake from a harmless one takes a close look at the head, the pattern and the color bands, and a close look is exactly what Michael does not want you to take. That is why he says keep your distance and call. Once he sees it, he tells you what it is.
Why did a snake come into my garage?
A snake comes into a garage for food, for shelter or for a cool place to wait out the heat. Food is the big one. Snakes follow mice and rats, and a garage with bird seed, dog food or grass seed on the shelves draws rodents first and snakes second. If you have been finding droppings along the garage wall, the snake may be the second half of a rodent problem, and the rat and mouse control page explains how Michael handles that part.
How do I keep snakes out of the garage for good?
Removing the snake handles today. Keeping the next one out means closing the way in and taking away the reason it came. These are the openings Michael finds most often on garages around here:
| Where | What it looks like | What closes it |
|---|---|---|
| Bottom corners of the big door | Daylight at the corners when the door is down, a torn or flattened rubber seal | A new bottom seal and corner pieces that meet the slab |
| Side jambs of the big door | A gap between the weather strip and the frame | New weather strip set tight to the door |
| Pipes and lines through the wall | An open ring around a water line, the dryer vent or the A/C lines | Metal mesh and sealant around the line |
| The side or back door | Light under the door, a missing sweep | A door sweep that touches the threshold |
| Clutter along the walls | Boxes on the floor, stacked lumber, feed sacks | Shelves off the floor and feed kept in sealed bins |
Outside, the same habits matter. Snakes rest in thick flower beds that touch the slab, under stacked firewood and around pool equipment. Trimming beds back from the house and keeping the yard picked up gives them fewer places to wait near your doors.
Pulling one snake out and leaving the gap open is the same mistake as trapping one rat and leaving its hole: something else finds the way in. That is why animal exclusion work looks at the whole house, the garage included, and seals every opening an animal is using, so the rodents stop coming in and the snakes stop following them.
Call or text 713-775-8799 if you want the garage looked over once the snake is out.
When should I call someone about a snake?
Call when the snake is inside the garage or the house, when you cannot tell what kind it is, or when you keep seeing snakes around the same spot. The snake removal page covers how Michael finds and removes a snake and what he changes around the house afterward. In Tomball, where newer subdivisions and older houses back up to acreage and pasture, the page on snake removal in Tomball covers that side of it.
Until Michael gets there, keep the door into the house shut, keep the kids and pets away and keep an eye on where the snake goes. That is all you need to do. For a snake in the garage right now, call 713-775-8799.
Sources
- Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Venomous Snake Safety: tpwd.texas.gov/education/resources/texas-junior-naturalists/be-nature-safe/venomous-snake-safety
Questions people ask about a snake in the garage
Will the snake leave the garage on its own if I open the door?
Sometimes. A snake that wandered in looking for shade may slide back out once the garage cools and the door is open. A snake that came in after mice usually stays, because the food is still there. If you saw it go out, check the corners of the door for gaps. If you lost track of it, assume it is still inside and keep the door to the house shut.
Should I put snake repellent down around my garage?
Michael would not count on it. What keeps snakes out is the same thing that keeps mice out: no gaps at the door corners, around the pipes or under the side door, and nothing on the garage floor for them to hide in or eat. Sealing the openings and cutting off the rodents does more than anything you pour along the slab.
Can a snake get from the garage into my house?
It can if there is a gap under the door between the garage and the house, or an opening where pipes or the dryer vent pass through the wall. That is why Michael tells people to lay a towel along the bottom of that door until the snake is out. When he inspects the garage, he checks that wall too.
How do you find a snake in a garage full of stuff?
Michael starts where you last saw it and works along the walls, moving one thing at a time with tools that keep his hands well back. Snakes press against walls and slide under anything flat, so he checks under shelving, behind the water heater and inside stored items. Once he has it, he takes it out of the garage and shows you the gap it most likely used.
