People have a morbid fear of snakes, just a mere mention of the word snake is sometimes, enough to freak people out. Hollywood has capitalized on the fear of snakes and has made many movies like 'Anaconda' to reap rich benefits. This philosophy of fear has made the general population term snakes as evil, and people just want to kill them on sight. Contrary to popular belief, snakes play a major role in the eco system, they keep the rodent population under control. Like all animals, snakes hunt only to feed themselves and not for pleasure. Most of the snake species are non venomous and pose no threat to humans. The poisonous species of snakes use their venom to kill prey, and not as a self-defense mechanism. All this information is useful to dispel some of the myths concerning snakes. Snakes are mother nature's version of pest control, in the wild they keep the rodent population under check. Snakes also eat frogs, lizards, and small birds, so, if we kill snakes the population of these animals and birds will grow exponentially, leading to many problems. Many snakes, like the garter snake eat insects that can cause a lot of harm to our crops. Snakes are camouflage hunters, which means they will try to merge with their surroundings to hide their presence from their prey. Snakes will often seek refuge under leaves and branches to camouflage their presence. One of the tactics employed by snakes to stay out of reach of predators is to hide in confined spaces. One of the most favored hiding space of snakes is under a rock, their physical structure allows them to crawl under the tiniest of openings. Since they are cold-blooded reptiles, they will often seek refuge under things which will help them maintain their body temperature. One of the best way to keep snakes away, is to mow you lawns regularly as snakes love to hide in the grass. If you want to know how to get rid of snakes in your yard rake leaves from your garden so that you don't have any dead leaves lying around. Leaves offer excellent camouflage for snakes and if you take away the snakes hiding spots, they will relocate somewhere else. If you have rock piles or wood lying around your property, you are inviting snakes to hide under it. Do not keep any stones or pieces of wood around the yard, snakes love to hide under stacks of wood and stones. Keeping junk metal, steel or any other clutter is an open invitation to snakes, so make sure you do not have any unused things stacked up. Rats are snakes favorite prey, they will follow them in your house and in your living room if required. The rat snake is the most common snake species found across the United States and Canada. If you have a rat infestation, calling your local pest control guys is a good idea. Regular use of rat poison to keep rats off your property is also important to keep snakes away. Snakes have a keen sense of smell, they use their tongue to get a sense of smell and taste and they use it effectively to follow rats and other prey. People use moth balls to keep of snakes, this is not very effective as the smell can wear off after some time. The use of garlic to keep snakes away is also based on the theory that it's odor will keep snakes away. The long-term effectiveness of both these methods is questionable, and moth balls also emit toxic fumes which are not good for humans. Another way of keeping snakes away is to tie up your garbage bags properly before putting them in trash cans. If you have bird feeders on your grounds, make sure the feed does not litter the ground. Loose garbage or bird feed will attract rodents and snakes will follow the rodents.