"~ jan" wrote

| On Fri, 12 Jun 2009 08:37:55 EDT, "ReelMcKoi" wrote:
|
| Taste it or smell it, they'd simply go around something
| like Naphtha flakes as I saw them do with my own two
| eyes. They don't turn around and go back the way they came.
| And why would they? I never understood how anyone
| would think they'd do that.
|
| My guess, people who have had the opposite experience, such as this lady
| has. ~ jan

Pardon my ignorance but why would I want to keep snakes away from my pond?

That is, if I had a pond... Mine is still in the planning stage... but I'm
really close to starting it. In the meantime I've been providing a small
pool just for tree frogs to breed... and they've taken advantage of it. The
pool is currently teeming with tads and I feed them daily - they get as many
slugs and snails and moths and other bugs as I can find, along with lots and
lots of leafy green stuff, with a liberal sprinkling of dry catfood (they go
nuts for this).

Last year after all the tadpoles had left the pool, and I was using the last
of the rainwater in it for the garden, one day I found five or six garden
snakes swimming in about 4-5" of clear water. They seemed quite anxious to
get out, so I caught them all and released them into the garden. These
snakes are so good at mole control that I want to encourage and protect
them. I'm sad to say that I occasionally kill one inadvertently while
mowing.