‘We need you to stop.’ Putting mothballs on trails won’t deter snakes, Meck officials say
It’s a popular myth: Mothballs deter snakes.
This fallacy hasn’t kept visitors to Mecklenburg’s nature preserves and trails from dropping the toxic balls, and county officials urge them to stop.
“Why are y’all bringing mothballs to nature preserves?,” the county posted on Twitter on Sunday. “We need you to stop.”
The tweet included a GIF of “Schitt’s Creek” actor Dan Levy that asks “Why would you do that?”
Snakes are supposed to live in nature preserves, Rossana Seitter, creative services coordinator for Mecklenburg County, told The Charlotte Observer this week.
The county’s tweet comes about a month after the start of copperhead breeding season, which typically falls between August and September. During breeding season, the snake gives birth to three to 10 babies, according to MassWildlife.
Using mothballs as a snake repellent isn’t illegal, but it’s “completely ineffective” and can harm lots of other wildlife, Seitter said. The chemicals in mothballs are toxic to people, pets and wildlife, she said. The chemicals, which can include naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene, can also get into soil and groundwater.
“Step away and the snake will leave you alone,” Seitter said.
Snakes are warm-season animals, so they’re typically seen during the summer and early fall, but they become dormant when the weather turns colder, Sampson Parker Jr., a North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission officer in Mecklenburg County, said.
“This is the time of the year where (activity is) going to start to slow down a little bit,” he said.
Most snakes, including venomous copperheads, stay as still as possible when faced with potential predators, according to the Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Nature Centers.
Rather then putting mothballs along trails, people should be aware and keep their heads up because “at the end of the day, it’s nature,” Parker said.
‘They’re great pest control’
According to Seitter, there are ways to keep snakes out of the yard or home:
▪ Clear the yard of woodpiles and debris. Snakes like dark damp spaces.
▪ Keep lids tight on pet food and trash cans to reduce the attractiveness to mice and rodents, which snakes typically like to eat.
▪ Seal all gaps leading to crawlspaces and garage doors to prevent snakes from being able to slither under them.
“Best idea, embrace them living near you,” Seitter said. “They’re great pest control!”
