Back in my home country when we develop a snake problem, we drop some mothballs around the area and that seems to work.

I have a cobra who has taken up in my garden. The wife just snatches him up by his tail and tosses him. I am not even slightly considering that.

I think the first words any farang should learn is "Be careful, there is a cobra in the garden.". Should have seen the wifes hand and arms gestures to go along with this phrase.

I digress...

Will mothballs keep this guy out of my yard?

Thanks.

Snakes have avery accute sense of "smell/taste" via their Jacobson's organ. Moth balls contain either naphthalene, or paradichlorobenzene both sublimate (i.e. go straight to gas from a solid). The chemical they release is poisonous to moths (obviously) but also keeps away cockroaches and other bugs that rely on "smell" - so it could well work with snakes. If so, then so could amonia (old type window cleaner). Very cheap here (moth balls that is) and avaiable at the supermarket, so I would certainly give it a go.

Note that snakes can tell the direction of smell, so you would have to spread them evenly othgerwise he might just avoid them instead. (maybe move in to your house instead!)

Great info. Thanks for the placement tips.

You have a brave wife , my wife shits herself at the sign of anything that moves, even me.

She is fearless with creatures to the point of recklessness. I've seen traffic stopped because of a snake in the road and she will ride up to it and toss it. Crazy.

She is fearless with creatures to the point of recklessness. I've seen traffic stopped because of a snake in the road and she will ride up to it and toss it. Crazy.

Sounds like my sort of woman, ( of course with respect ).

Yeah. She's alright

You have a brave wife , my wife shits herself at the sign of anything that moves, even me.

haha..halarious reply..the absolute fear on their faces when they see a common earth-worm is beyond description.

Dont know how much you are willing to pay to get rid of the snake, but if you do a search on the net for electronic snake repellent you will find a company that sells these units.(think the name are sentential or something like that cant recall) They are solar powered. Just put in the ground and it submits a ultrasonic sound that I guess the snakes dont like. I bought a few for my house in the USA and they worked well. I had a 5 acre place on the water and used to get snakes on my back porch near by pool in my garage all over the place. Once i installed these units no more problems. i think they were around $100 USD each, that was 5 years ago.

Good luck...

Thanks. I went with the mothball route.

Copied off another site:

DO NOT USE MOTHBALLS FOR THIS PURPOSE! It is illegal and dangerous. The use of anything of this manner for anything other that the proper uses stated on the packaging is a violation of FEDERAL LAW, as well as many STATE laws. Naphthalene, the active ingredient in mothballs, is dangerous and extremely toxic. Children often mistake them for candy or toys, and typically end up in the hospital, and many have died. Your pets are also vulnerable to naphthalene toxicity, and may eat the mothballs because they taste sweet. I am not some animal nut. I am an Animal Control Officer and an Animal Cruelty Investigator with my local police department. I have done the research and spoken to the Federal Agencies who govern these issues due to a case that I investigated. It is a violation of federal law and many state laws under the improper use pesticides and repellents.

I realize this is not a post from Thailand but it certainly raises some concerns about kids and pets.

Perhaps using kid/dog proof perforated containers to hold the mothballs would be a safer solution?

Nah. I just chucked them out along the perimeter.

Seems to be doing ok. I haven't seen the big boy in a few days.

I've had dogs for years and never had one eat a mothball. They take one sniff and back away.

But I have had cobras in my kitchen more than once, so I prefer the mothball route too, thanks.

An update.

After nearly two weeks I have not seen a snake near my home.

However, nature has a way of filling voids.

I now have quite a few Tokays and now seem to have some rats showing up.

Along with the rats comes my neighbors cats.

My bird does NOT like the cats at all.

Still better than the cobra though.