A thought: If you take a picture, call your local animal control office and
ask if someone there is good at identifying local snakes. If so, it'll
certainly put your mind at ease. And, it's free, unless you choose to buy
this person some donuts.

We had a snake (whose name I don't remember) in our yard that used to hang
out by my ex's goldfish pond. It liked the warm stones around the water.
That snake was picked up and handled by at least a dozen people a week, with
adult supervision, and it never bit anyone, except for one teenager who
handled it roughly. (This particular kid's a jerk, so I was glad when he got
bitten).

For a few bucks, you could pick up a couple of nice-shaped cement or terra
cotta tiles at a garden center, and put them in the flower bed near where
you've found the snake in the siding. Maybe the snake would hang out on that
stone for warmth, instead of in your siding, and perhaps you'd be more
comfortable with it being more visible, instead of surprising you.

Things could always be worse. Much worse. You could have dogs instead of
snakes.
-Doug

"PacKat" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the gentle advice :-)
I live in Maryland, DC suburb. Yes it has been quite
chilly the last several days. You are right, very likely,
they are harmless. From where I can see, they are dark
brown or black, about 1 foot long. Can't take picture now
that they are flat to the ground. The installer is just
afraid of snake as much as I do, perhaps more. I saw him
jumped straight uup several feet when he yelled
"EeeeiiiiyaH!!! SNAKE!"

I will just keep my distance and let them be when I saw one
next time.
pac

Doug Kanter wrote:
"PacKat" wrote in message
...

I have my siding replaced today. The crew found two,
repeat
two snakes hiding behind the siding panel. I went
limp... Sorry, nothing against the snakes. But they
have
to go.
Any suggestion on what to do to discourage them taking
refuge in any part of my house?

Thansk, I would really appreciated it.
pac

You didn't say where you were located, but, has it been
chilly at
all, as in the Northeast? If so, the snakes are probably
just warming
up in your siding. In the woods, they'd be sunning
themselves on a
warm rock. They're cold-blooded, remember?

Your best bet is to ask the installers to try and make
less of a gap
than the previous crew did, between the bottom row of
siding and the
house itself. Or, take a nice, clear picture of the snakes
and find
out what they are. Odds are they're harmless to you, and
they may be
helping to control mice around your house. Who do you like
better?
Mice, or snakes? :-)