Snake in Your House or Garden in Johannesburg? What to Do and How Professional Snake Removal Works

Finding a snake on your property tends to produce one of two reactions.

The first is to get as far away from it as possible.

The second is to immediately find a shovel.

At Bee Kulture, we strongly recommend the first.

One of the ideas behind Bee Kulture has always been that conservation has to work in the real world. It is easy to appreciate wildlife when it is somewhere picturesque and far away. It becomes considerably more difficult when that wildlife is a snake underneath your garden furniture, behind the fridge or moving across the floor of your home.

I understand that.

If you have a snake inside your house or garden in Johannesburg or elsewhere in Gauteng, the immediate priority is not identifying it, catching it or killing it.

The priority is creating distance, keeping people and animals safe, keeping track of where the snake is and getting somebody experienced to remove it.

What should I do if I find a snake in my house?

The first thing is to move away from the snake.

Keep children and pets out of the area.

Do not approach it to get a better photograph.

Do not try to pin it down.

Do not try to pick it up.

Do not assume it is harmless because somebody in the family WhatsApp group says it looks like a house snake.

If the snake is inside a room and you can safely leave that room, close the door.

If it is in a more open area, move away and watch it from a safe distance if you can do so without placing yourself at risk.

Then contact a professional snake remover.

One of the most useful things a customer can do for us is simply tell us where the snake is.

A snake that somebody has kept eyes on is normally much easier to remove than a snake that was last seen disappearing behind a cupboard forty minutes ago.

How far away should I stand from a snake?

As a general rule, give it at least five metres where the space allows.

You do not need to stand next to a snake to keep track of it.

Most snakes want to avoid confrontation with people.

Problems often begin when somebody decides that the snake must immediately be caught, chased or killed.

The African Snakebite Institute similarly recommends keeping people and pets away while somebody observes the snake from a safe distance until a competent remover arrives.

That simple approach prevents a surprising amount of unnecessary risk.

Should I try to identify the snake?

A photograph can be extremely useful.

Risking a bite for a photograph is not.

If you can safely photograph the snake from a distance, send the photograph to the remover.

If you cannot, describe what you saw.

People frequently misidentify snakes, particularly when they are frightened.

Colour alone is not a reliable identification method.

A brown snake is not necessarily a brown house snake.

A snake spreading a hood is not something I would recommend approaching because you want to confirm precisely which species it is.

Our approach is to treat an unidentified snake with appropriate caution until we have good reason to do otherwise.

What snakes are found around Johannesburg and Gauteng?

Gauteng has a surprisingly diverse snake population.

Most of the snakes people encounter are not considered dangerously venomous, but Gauteng is also home to species capable of causing serious envenomation.

The rinkhals is particularly relevant to Johannesburg and the surrounding Highveld.

Puff adders also occur in Gauteng.

Snouted cobras occur within the province, particularly as one moves into suitable habitat.

There are also numerous harmless or relatively harmless species, including brown house snakes, aurora house snakes, egg-eaters, blind snakes and various grass and water snakes.

This is precisely why I do not like the idea of homeowners trying to make identification and handling decisions themselves.

The consequence of incorrectly identifying a harmless snake as dangerous may be the unnecessary death of the animal.

The consequence of incorrectly identifying a dangerous snake as harmless can be much worse.

If you are uncertain, leave it alone.

Are there really dangerous snakes in Johannesburg?

Yes.

But that statement needs context.

Johannesburg is not a city in which dangerously venomous snakes are constantly pursuing residents through their gardens.

Most snakes avoid people.

Even venomous species generally do not benefit from wasting venom or entering into a confrontation with something as large as a human being.

A snake normally bites because it believes it needs to defend itself.

That is another reason why trying to kill a snake is such a poor strategy.

To kill it, you have to move towards it.

You take a situation in which you were several metres away from the snake and voluntarily turn it into one in which you are within striking distance.

The safest snake is usually the snake you leave alone until somebody equipped to deal with it arrives.

Why do snakes come into gardens?

A snake does not normally arrive at your home because it has developed an interest in your family.

It is usually looking for one or more fairly ordinary things:

Food

Shelter

Water

Rodents are particularly important.

If a property provides an abundant food source for rats and mice, it can indirectly become attractive to the animals which feed on them.

Frogs, lizards and other prey can have the same effect depending on the snake species.

Then there are hiding places.

Building rubble, stacked timber, sheets of material lying on the ground, thick vegetation, neglected storage areas and similar spaces can provide excellent shelter.

The lesson is quite simple.

If you want to reduce snake activity, do not think only about the snake.

Think about what makes the property useful to the snake.

Does long grass attract snakes?

Long grass does not magically create snakes.

It does, however, provide cover.

Snakes generally do not want to sit exposed in the middle of an empty lawn.

Dense vegetation, long grass, piles of material, rocks, logs and other concealed areas can make it easier for snakes and their prey to live around a property without being disturbed.

Keeping the immediate area around buildings relatively clear is therefore sensible.

It also makes a snake considerably easier to see if one does move through the property.

Do rats attract snakes?

Absolutely.

This is one of the most important points in snake prevention.

Many snake species feed on rodents.

If you have a substantial rat or mouse problem, you are providing a food source for predators.

This is why good refuse management, responsible storage of animal feed and rodent control can form part of a proper snake-management strategy.

The snake is sometimes the symptom.

The rodents are the underlying problem.

So how do I reduce the chances of snakes entering my property?

Start with the basics.

Keep the property reasonably clear.

Remove unnecessary piles of rubble, timber, old roofing material and other potential hiding places.

Control rodents.

Manage refuse properly.

Avoid leaving animal food available to rodents overnight.

Seal obvious gaps beneath external doors where practical.

Keep dense vegetation from creating easy concealed routes directly into windows and buildings.

Where a property has a persistent or unusually high snake problem, properly designed physical snake barriers and snake-proofing may also be considered.

At Bee Kulture, this is how we prefer to approach snake control.

Rather than pretending that every snake can be prevented with a smell or chemical, look at the property itself.

Ask:

Where can a snake enter?

Where can it hide?

What is it eating?

Then address those problems.

What should I do if the snake is in my garden?

If the snake is outside and moving away from the house, the correct response may simply be to give it space.

Not every snake sighting requires somebody to race across Johannesburg with snake tongs.

A harmless snake passing through an open garden may disappear into neighbouring natural habitat without ever creating a problem.

The situation changes when the snake is trapped, close to people or pets, inside a building, occupying a problematic area or when you simply cannot safely leave it where it is.

That is when removal makes sense.

What if I have dogs?

Get the dogs away from the snake as quickly and calmly as you can.

Dogs are one of my biggest concerns during snake call-outs because they often do exactly what we are telling humans not to do.

They approach.

They investigate.

They attack.

This places both the dog and the snake at risk.

If you see a snake in the garden, secure your dogs somewhere away from it before worrying about photographs or identification.

Should I kill the snake?

No.

There is the conservation argument, which matters to me.

Snakes play an important ecological role, particularly as predators of rodents and other animals.

But there is an even simpler reason.

Trying to kill the snake makes you more likely to get bitten.

You have to approach it.

You have to corner it.

You have to interact with it.

You turn an animal that was trying to get away from you into an animal defending itself from you.

Professional removal gives us another option.

We can remove the risk to the homeowner without automatically killing the animal.

What happens during a professional snake removal?

The first challenge is finding the snake.

This sounds obvious, but it is often the most difficult part of the job.

A customer sees a snake.

They leave the area.

Twenty minutes later we arrive and the snake is gone.

Snakes can disappear into remarkably small spaces.

That is why, if it is safe, we ask somebody to continue observing the snake from a sensible distance while the team is travelling to the property.

Once located, the objective is to safely contain the animal using appropriate snake-handling equipment and techniques.

The exact method depends on the species, its location and the physical environment.

A snake underneath a garden table presents a very different challenge from a snake inside a storeroom filled with boxes.

The principle remains the same.

Protect the people.

Protect the handler.

Protect the snake.

What happens to the snake afterwards?

This is where the word removal matters.

At Bee Kulture, our conservation philosophy does not stop with honeybees.

Where appropriate, snakes are captured for responsible relocation rather than killed simply because they entered a human environment.

The release site has to make sense for the animal and for people.

Relocating a snake does not mean driving down the road and dropping it over somebody else's wall.

Species, habitat, proximity to people and the applicable conservation requirements all matter.

Responsible relocation should solve the original problem without simply creating another one somewhere else.

Is snake removal legal in Gauteng?

Wildlife handling in South Africa sits within a conservation regulatory framework, and permit requirements can depend on the province, activity and species concerned.

The African Snakebite Institute advises that snake removers in most South African provinces require valid catch-and-release permits from the relevant nature conservation authority.

This is another reason why snake removal should be treated as wildlife management rather than ordinary pest extermination.

If you employ somebody to catch snakes, it is entirely reasonable to ask about their training, experience and any permits applicable to the work they perform.

What if somebody is bitten by a snake?

Treat a suspected snakebite as a medical emergency.

Do not waste time trying to catch or kill the snake.

If it can be done safely, a photograph may assist with identification, but getting the patient to appropriate medical care is much more important.

Do not cut the bite.

Do not try to suck the venom out.

Do not apply ice, chemicals or traditional remedies to the wound.

Do not give antivenom yourself.

Antivenom is a medical treatment which may cause serious reactions and should be administered in an appropriate medical environment when clinically indicated.

The priority is getting the person to medical care as quickly and safely as possible.

Can a snake still bite after it appears dead?

Treat every snake as capable of biting unless you know otherwise.

Some species may remain motionless when threatened.

A badly injured or dying snake may still be capable of biting.

A snake that somebody has hit with a shovel is therefore not something I would recommend picking up by hand to throw into the bin.

Again, the safest principle is remarkably consistent:

Do not handle it.

Why does Bee Kulture remove snakes?

When my father and I started Bee Kulture, the business began with honeybees, but the principle behind it was broader than bees.

We wanted to build a business around the idea that nuisance wildlife does not automatically have to become dead wildlife.

That does not mean ignoring human safety.

In fact, I think good conservation depends on taking human concerns seriously.

A parent with a rinkhals in the garden does not need a lecture about biodiversity.

They need the snake safely removed.

Our role is to solve that immediate problem in a way that protects the customer while giving the animal a better outcome as well.

That, to me, is what a Kulture of Conservation actually means.

Snake removal in Johannesburg and Gauteng

Bee Kulture provides professional snake removal and relocation services across Johannesburg and surrounding areas of Gauteng, including Sandton, Fourways, Bryanston, Lonehill, Midrand, Randburg, Rosebank, Rivonia, Bedfordview, Germiston, Boksburg, Benoni, Kempton Park, Edenvale, Alberton, Bassonia, Johannesburg South, Centurion and Pretoria.

If there is a snake on your property, the most useful information you can send us is:

Your location or suburb

A photograph of the snake, if one can be taken safely

Whether the snake is inside or outside

Where it is currently hiding or moving

Whether there are children or pets nearby

Most importantly, if you can safely do so, keep watching the snake from a distance.

Finding the snake is usually much easier when we know exactly where it went.

Do not try to catch it for us.

That is our job.