What should I do if I find a snake in my house in Springfield?
By Jacob Ingledue
Table of Contents
By Jacob Ingledue
If you find a snake in your house in Springfield, the right move is to leave it alone. Stay back, keep children and pets out of the room and get the snake out of your day without touching it. Nearly every snake that turns up indoors in this part of Missouri is a harmless one that wandered in after mice or followed a gap in the foundation, and the most dangerous thing you can do is try to catch or kill it.
The steps that follow are about keeping your distance, getting accurate information about what you are looking at and finding the people who actually handle snakes indoors. They are also about the part that gets forgotten once the snake is gone, which is how it got in and what is likely to bring the next one.
If anyone in the house has been bitten, call emergency services right away. That is the only instruction this page gives on bites. Everything about bites and treatment is a question for your doctor or for emergency services, not something to work out from an article.
Do these things in this order.
Do not try to sweep it out with a broom, pick it up with tongs, pin it with a shovel or pour anything on it. These actions are how most bites happen. The Missouri Department of Conservation says most bites occur when people are trying to kill or handle venomous snakes, and it adds that even freshly killed specimens can inflict a dangerous bite due to reflex action.
This is the part that surprises people. A pest company that does insect work is not always the right call for a live snake in the living room.
The Missouri Department of Conservation is the state agency for wildlife, and it is the right place to ask for guidance on a live snake indoors. A licensed wildlife handler or your local animal control office may also be able to come and remove it. Titan Pest Pro states plainly on its snake removal page that it does not capture, relocate or kill snakes, and that for a snake inside a home you should contact the Missouri Department of Conservation or a licensed wildlife handler for capture. What Titan does after that is find how it got in, seal it and deal with whatever brought it.
That division of labor is honest and worth understanding. Removing the animal and fixing the house are two jobs, and they are often done by two different people.
Missouri has many snake species, and only a few are venomous. The Missouri Department of Conservation field guide describes the ones you are most likely to meet around a house.
The eastern copperhead is the most common venomous snake in Missouri, according to the department. It is a stout snake with hourglass-shaped bands, and it mostly lives in rocky, wooded hillsides, brushy areas along creeks and around leaf litter and brush piles. It can turn up near houses but is much less likely to be inside one.
A word of caution about identifying anything. Do not rely on head shape. Harmless snakes can flatten their heads and look triangular. Treat every unknown snake as one you do not touch and get an opinion from a person trained to identify it. A photo is the best tool you have.
A snake does not need much of an opening. The Missouri Department of Conservation notes that ratsnakes can enter human-built structures that are not sealed sufficiently to exclude them. The usual routes are low and unglamorous:
Springfield has a lot of the conditions that make this more likely. The city sits on the Springfield Plateau, which Wikipedia describes as ranging from nearly level to rolling hills, with streams such as Jordan Creek and Galloway Creek running within or near it, and the city has many parks and trail corridors. Older neighborhoods have houses built long before modern sealing practices, with crawlspaces and stone or block foundations. The city was founded in 1834, so housing age is a real factor in some parts of town. Snakes use the same creek corridors and brushy edges that raccoons and rodents do.
Food explains most of the rest. The Missouri Department of Conservation says mice and voles make up the bulk of a copperhead’s diet, and ratsnakes eat a variety of rodents. If mice are living in your garage or basement, a snake that hunts them has a reason to come inside. That is why the single most effective step after a snake visit is often dealing with whatever was feeding it.
When a handler or an agency calls you back, a few plain questions get you what you need.
Having your photo and your notes ready makes the call short. It also helps to leave the room undisturbed, with the door closed and pets elsewhere, until someone has looked.
People are often surprised to learn that snakes are protected. The Missouri Department of Conservation says all snakes native to the state are protected by law and that it is against the law to kill them, except when a venomous snake is in such close association with people that it might result in someone being bitten. This is not legal advice, and the rules can change, so check with the department for current guidance. Beyond the legal point, there is a practical one. A ratsnake or kingsnake in your yard is doing rodent control for free, and killing it gets you more mice.
The department gives season windows for several species. Western ratsnakes are active from early April through October. Copperheads are normally active from mid-March through early November, and in the hottest months they become nocturnal. Ratsnakes overwinter in places that include the foundations of buildings, which is one reason a snake can turn up inside a basement or crawlspace in colder weather.
In practical terms, spring and early fall are when people most often meet a snake indoors, because animals are moving in and out of winter shelters. Hot summer nights can also bring a snake near doors and patios where it hunts.
Once the animal has been removed or has left on its own, take an hour to look for how it got in.
Our approach to snake situations is identification, food-source removal, entry-point sealing and habitat reduction, along with a repellent application around the property. It begins with a free inspection and a written estimate. For properties with recurring wildlife pressure, the company points to the Titan Wildlife Defense plan. Springfield homeowners can find local details on the Springfield pest control page.
This page does not give first aid or treatment advice, on purpose. Medical decisions about a bite belong with a doctor and emergency services, and a short article is a poor substitute. If you are bitten, or if you think someone has been, call emergency services immediately. For any question about symptoms, ask your doctor.
Sometimes you see a tail disappear behind the dryer and then nothing. That is stressful, but it is also common, and the usual outcome is that the snake finds its own way out within a day or two or turns up in a place you can see it. Keep the room closed off if you can, keep pets out, and check low, dark spots from a distance with a flashlight rather than a hand. Note the date and the room, and mention it to whoever you call. A sighting with no follow-up is still worth recording, because it tells you there is an opening somewhere that needs to be found.
Should I try to catch a snake in my house with a bucket or a pillowcase?
No. Handling a snake is how most bites happen, and you may not know the species. Keep your distance and contact the Missouri Department of Conservation or a licensed wildlife handler.
Does Titan remove snakes from the house?
Titan does not capture, relocate or kill snakes. Its snake work covers identification, removing what drew the snake in, sealing entry points and treating the property. For a live snake inside the home, it directs people to the Missouri Department of Conservation or a licensed handler.
Are most snakes in Springfield homes venomous?
No. Most snake calls involve harmless species such as ratsnakes, gartersnakes and kingsnakes. The department says the eastern copperhead is the most common venomous snake in Missouri, but a harmless snake is the likelier visitor inside a house.
Can I tell a venomous snake by the shape of its head?
Not reliably. Harmless snakes can flatten their heads and look triangular. If you are unsure, treat the snake as unknown and keep away from it.
Is it illegal to kill a snake in Missouri?
The Missouri Department of Conservation says native snakes are protected and it is against the law to kill them, with a narrow exception for a venomous snake in close association with people. This is not legal advice, so check with the department for current rules.
Will another snake come in?
It depends on whether the food and the entry point are still there. Closing gaps and dealing with rodents are the steps that reduce the chance of a repeat visit.
