My son sent several pictures of this rattlesnake den. It was taken close to the Rancho Santa Fe subdivision, near Kingman, AZ, and is only 1,000 yards from this guys home.
OH MY GOD!!!! That is just gross. I can't stand snakes and to have that many so close to my house I think I would and then I would run away and never go back.
A pet mongoose would help. Seriously, though, I think there are repellents available to keep them away. The primary danger is to pets and small children that don't know not to play with them. Teach your kids to respect them but don't give them a phobia.
Most snakes will retreat faster than I do. Down here you can buy hard plastic snake protectors that fit from the knee to the ankle in any type of outdoor store. Academy is one.
Cleaning up an overgrown yard is extremely dangerous when you're reaching down into brush, leaf piles, wood piles, etc. It's up to you to convince the wife that it's too dangerous and just hire to have it done. Another reason not to let it go 'back to nature' and keep it squared away.
East Texas has some pretty bad snakes, including the little coral snake, rattlers, water moccasins, and copperheads to name a few.
Steve Irwin wasn't killed by a snake, BTW. And they won't bite a lawyer . . . (professional courtesy).
When I lived down in Tyler we were always watching for snakes. Like you said Ted, there were several to watch out for.
As far as killing them, one at a time is OK for me, but I wouldn't want to take on a whole den full. maybe in colder months 5 gallons of diesel with a little gas mixed in would probably get some of them, but the others would really be pissed off..... I'm sure there is a market for the meat, but don't think that's what I want to raise.
I just found three Black Rat snakes in my small garage that I use mostly for stoarge. Fortunatly they are not poisonous. I caught them in boxes and relocated them about a half mile down the road. No neighbors there.
cj7, that was the politically correct way to handle them. Hope you don't have any more. But some snakes are helpful, like bull snakes. I don't especially like them, but they do kill mice and fats. I've heard they will kill smaller rattlesnakes, but I don't know if that's true. I don't think they could handle a whole den full.