Saturday, June 10, 2006

Snakeguard Snake Traps

There are basically two commercially available snake traps on the market today. They both operate on the same principle, that is to place the snake trap in such a manner as to force the snake to enter the snake trap, whereby it is captured on a glue strip or glueboard. A snake when encountering the glue surface inside the confines of a trap cannot merely turn its' head and leave the trap without being captured. A snake must draw its' entire body into the trap, in an attempt to reverse direction and thereby is captured in the glue along its' entire bodylength.

The formulation of glue used in both of the snake traps is such that it can be neutralized if the desire is to capture a snake and then relocate it. Neutralization of the glue is accomplished by pouring regular vegetable oil (or spraying a vegetable oil such as PAM) on the captured snake along its' entire length. It typically will take from between a half and a full cup of vegetable oil to release a snake unharmed. This process will take several minutes, so you need to be patient.

The Snakeguard Snake Trap which was the first to hit the commercial market has enjoyed widespread acceptance among professional operators and homeowners for capturing and removing snakes. This snake trap, constructed of corrugated cardboard has a glue "pattern" built into the inside of the trap. The glue pattern is in the shape of a "V", where the point of the "V" touches the extreme outside edge of the snake trap on its' inside. This requires that the snake fully enter the snake trap before its' head initially encounters the glue. When the snake attempts to leave by drawing its' body in behind itself its' body is "stuck" to the outwardly positioned legs of the "V" glue pattern. The Snakeguard snake trap is an excellent tool for indoor applications such as a sunroom, porch, garage, basement area, etc. Due to its' construction material it is not so well suited for outdoor areas.
snakeguard snake trap
Setting the Snakeguard Snake Trap: The Snakeguard snake traps initially come completely flat for ease of shipping. Remove the outer plastic covering that it comes shipped in and open the snake trap at its' midpoint to expose the "V" pattern of glue which has two protective strips covering it. While holding the box open, firmly grasp one end of one of the protective strips and peel off, exposing the underlying glue. Do the same for the remaining side. While continuing to hold the box open, bend the corrugated cardboard along the pre-defined lines, such that it forms a rectangular box. There are two tabs located on one side of the outside edge of the rectangle. These are placed through their corresponding slots in the roof of the snake trap so the box holds its' shape. You should now have a rectangular box with the Snakeguard logo on top, with the glue exposed on the inside. The only thing left to do is to place the snake trap along a wall, foundation or similar which will guide the snake into the trap. It sometimes helps to place a piece of duct-tape from the inside edge of the snake trap to the wall it is placed against so the snake cannot attempt to "squeeze" between the box and the wall without entering the trap.

The Snakeguard snake trap is able to capture some of the largest nuisance snakes as we have personally seen it capture black snakes in the 5.5 ft. range. These traps are available at
www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com