Does Peppermint Oil Repel Snakes?

Does peppermint repel snakes? Read on. Let’s separate facts from myth.

Most people have a morbid fear of snakes and will do all it takes to keep them away. Such fear has transcended many centuries and is still common to this day.

The reasons are obvious; snakes bite when they feel threatened with some of them being highly venomous.

Although these reptiles belong to the wild, they sometimes encroach into human dwellings.

Does Mint Keep Snakes Away?

If you’re currently living around a snake-prone area, you might want to adopt preventive measures. Such preventive measures include the use of repellents.

Now, peppermint has been rumored to be a snake repellent.

However, it remains unclear to most people whether peppermint will actually repel snakes from their yards or not. Here, our goal is to find answers.

You should have a clear understanding of its (peppermint’s) efficacy or otherwise by the end of this article.

Does Peppermint Oil Have Snake Repellent Properties?

Contrary to rumors you’ve heard, peppermint oil will do little to nothing in repelling snakes. You might be dismayed to find snakes moving about your yard or even finding their way indoors after applying peppermint oil.

With this said, will other essential oils offer any relief?

Just like peppermint oil other essential oils like cinnamon, clove, cedarwood has been named as snake repellents. These are being ranked above peppermint oil as having repellent properties.

However, there’s no real proof or guarantee about their efficacy.

What’s Behind the Reasoning?

With claims about the efficacy of peppermint oil as a snake repellent, there’s a need to understand the reasoning behind such claims. Now, certain essential oils are known to contain active ingredients used in commercially available snake repellents.

Another possible reason why peppermint is considered as being a snake repellent is due to the scent it gives out. Although such scents are pleasant to humans, most pests dislike them.

Snakes have a sharp sense of smell. They trace their prey from vibrations in addition to smells.

As such, it’s assumed that when peppermint oil is sprayed or applied to a certain area, it will drive away snakes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t. You’ll have to look for what works.

What Attracts Snakes

Whenever you find snakes around your home, it’s not there by mistake. There are certain sources of attraction that draw them to your surroundings.

Snakes will come around areas with leaf piles, mice, landscaping rocks, gaps in your home’s foundations as well as dense shrubbery.

Birdbaths also serve as sources of attraction as they need water to survive. Of all these attractions, food is primarily followed by ample hiding spaces to stay out of sight.

Now, snakes will readily feed on rats, mice, gophers, birds, eggs, and frogs among several other types of prey.

Peppermint Oil May Repel Snake Prey

While peppermint may have little to no repellent effect on snakes, it may successfully repel snake prey. Notice the word “may.” This is used because there are no guarantees it will.

To keep out snakes from your surroundings, you’ll need to adopt a broad-based control strategy.

If Peppermint doesn’t Repel Snakes, What Else Will?

With peppermint confirmed to be ineffective, you’ll need to find similar strategies that work. You might have some luck with essential oils like cedarwood, clove oil, and cinnamon.

These are combined into a solution to give the repellent more punch against these reptiles.

You’ll need about 30 ml of cedarwood oil added to 5 ml clove oil and 5 ml cinnamon oil. These are mixed and emptied into a spray bottle. With your snake repellent ready, spray around the most affected areas.

Snake hiding areas will need to be targeted the most.

The scent from this oil can be overpowering to these reptiles, thus driving them away.

In place of these essential oils, you can use onion and garlic. Just like the chemicals (sulfenic acid) contained in onions irritate your eyes when cutting them, it has a similar effect on snakes.

However, we must state clearly that there are no guarantees that these will have any repellent effect on snakes. You’ll have to try out the different methods to see what works.

Nothing Trumps Preventive Control

The use of essential oils like peppermint is never guaranteed to solve your snake problem. You’ll have to figure out or adopt a more reliable prevention technique.

These include the elimination of hiding spots, removal of food supplies, using natural predators, and making some changes to your landscape.

Also consider utilizing natural repellent products, in addition to smoking them out. Let’s discuss each of these points for better understanding.

• Elimination of Hiding Spots

For this to be possible, you’ll need to know possible snake hideouts. These reptiles love to hide in holes, cracks, and damp areas. One thing that’s common with all such areas is that they’re dark.

By sealing these up, you’re making your surroundings unwelcome to snakes.

• Removal of Food Supplies

We’ve earlier mentioned that snakes feed on many small animals found around your home. These include rats, mice, gophers, birds, eggs and frogs, etc.

By excluding these animals, you’re making your home surroundings less inviting to snakes.

• Using Natural Predators

There are lots of snake predators you can deploy in your fight towards keeping your home free from these reptiles.

Such predators include foxes, turkeys, cats, pigs, and guinea hens. With these animals around your home, the likelihood of snakes coming around is limited.

• Changing your Landscape

An alteration to your landscape could be all that’s needed to keep snakes at bay. Overgrown shrubs and grasses should be trimmed or mowed and snake repellent plants growing around your yard.

Also, every potential hiding spot for snakes should be sealed up.

• Utilizing Natural Repellent Products

Since we’re talking about a natural treatment like peppermint, you might want to adopt similar measures by using natural products like clove & cinnamon oil, ammonia, onions & garlic, lime, vinegar, and sulfur.

• Smoking them Out

Snakes hate smoke. You can apply smoke in a controlled manner to drive them out of their hiding spots. There needs to be an opening for them to escape as they’re likely to fight back when boxed to a corner.

Peppermint oil will do little to repel snakes from your yard. However, we’ve provided several alternatives to the use of peppermint oil.