Classified as pest species because of the fear they generate among humans, snakes live in a wide variety of habitats. They cool themselves by lying under thick canopy of plants, in water pools which are shallow and display great climbing skills. Hence, they can be found anywhere, most of them are non-venomous and less likely to attack. Snakes might just make your property an abode for themselves, if they find an easy food source such as rodents or mice.To keep human life and property safe, one must try to identify the tell-tale sign of these reptiles in the premise. Given below is some valuable information on how to identify and clean their scat. ➺ Snakes are carnivorous, and hence, they hunt other living organisms mostly birds and rodents. Their scats are like any other animal waste. Most often it's brown in color, smells atrocious, and appears moist. They excrete through a joint opening near the tail which is known as the cloaca. ➺ Snake scat mostly consists of white urea from the kidneys and waste matter from the intestines. A snake with a rodent-rich diet leaves scat that looks oblong, liquid, and with a white cap of urea. The color of the scat may vary depending on the diet but it will contain hair, bones, scales, and feathers of the hunted prey. Snakes take a lengthy process to digest their prey as they swallow it whole. They often go into a state of rest during digestion as the process requires lot of energy. It takes 48 hours for the snake to get into the full digestive mode, the right temperature being 86 degrees Fahrenheit. ➺ When the scat is fresh, it appears moist, but later, due to atmospheric absorption it leaves a white crust of uric acid. Do not confuse it with bird droppings as bird scats have more urea matter with a little greenish waste material. ➺ Study the length, diameter, color, and consistency as larger snakes leave more scat larger in size than the smaller ones. ➺ The size of the scat will allow you to define the size of the snake but it will not help you to identify the snake type. Although there are some clues like a copperhead snake leaves more scat than the garter snake, coral snake or the king snake have scales in their scat as they consume other snakes, and a medium-sized snake has feathers and bones in its scat. ➺ Snake scat emits bad odor as it contains salmonella bacteria which is associated with severe illnesses. It causes salmonellosis, a serious gastrointestinal infection that can prove fatal. ➺ Wash your hands carefully after handling snake scat. ➺ Wear thick protective gloves to eliminate spread of bacteria and other unhealthy germs via the scat. If you find scat in the attic or garage, then clean it with soapy warm water. ➺ If the area is rampant with snake menace, then make sure that children wear shoes when they are out playing in the open to avoid accidental contact with snake scat. ➺ Make sure you wear ankle and foot protection where there is snake scat, chances are the area may be infested with them. In such cases, adhere to the line: prevention is better than cure. Snakes are present mostly in rural settings, and if you happen to come across their scat in your area, make sure you use preventive measures like putting up snake traps, using snake repellents, eliminating rodents in your area, or calling expert wildlife personnel to catch the snake.