A lot of people love snakes, and who can blame them? These are incredibly fascinating creatures that make excellent pets and are equally enjoyable to observe in the wild.
However, there are people who are terrified of these animals and the thought of a snake climbing a wall and potentially making its way into the home can fill some people with dread. But can snakes climb walls?
Unlike other reptiles, such as lizards, snakes are not able to scale a smooth surface so if your walls are smooth, there is likely nothing to worry about. That being said, snakes are pretty adept at making their way up a brick wall or textured surface.
But is there really any reason to worry? Let’s take a closer look at the climbing abilities of snakes.
Can Snakes Get Into My Home?
If you live in a region where there are a lot of native snakes, particularly if they are venomous, you will likely want to steer clear of them.
While they are beautiful and interesting creatures, the potential of a fatal bite is not something that any human being wants to encounter.
The best way to avoid unnecessary contact with snakes is to protect your home and stop the snakes from getting in.
That’s all well and good when you think about how you might secure the lower levels, but what a lot of people fail to realize is that snakes may be able to get in on the upper levels of a building.
Not only is this inconvenient and possibly dangerous to homeowners, but it is also not great for the snake.
Wild snakes are not designed to be stuck in an attic but they will often be attracted to buildings where there may be food. If there are animals on the roof of your home, a snake will find a way to get in and make a meal of them.
Of course, the best way to avoid this is to ensure that you seal your home off to any animal intruders, particularly things like rats and possums that might attract a snake.
When we think about how snakes might access your home, especially the upper levels or if you live in an apartment, we must understand how these animals climb.
Snakes And Climbing
It is true that snakes are efficient climbers, after all, many of these animals live in the trees and must be able to get up to the higher branches.
But if you have ever seen a snake scaling a wall, you will know that their climbing skills are not limited to an arboreal situation.
First of all, let’s make one thing clear, a snake is not able to climb a wall with a smooth surface. Some reptiles, lizards in particular have suction cups on the feet that allow them to run up even the sleekest vertical surfaces. But snakes are not built this way and their scaly bodies are not suited to this sort of climbing.
However, don’t let that fool you into thinking that they are unable to move up a vertical surface. Provided that it is textured, a snake might be able to make its way up to the top.
They are most notable able to get up brick walls or stone walls that have a lot of places for the snake to move in between.
There are many types of snakes that are able to climb this way but one of the most concerning is the rattlesnake. In the USA, pest controllers are overwhelmed with calls from homeowners who have stumbled upon a rogue rattler in the attic.
Can Snakes Climb Stairs?
One of the other things that concern homeowners in areas where there are wild snakes is whether the snakes can climb stairs.
A lot of homes have stairs as one of the main access points to the front door, and even worse, if a snake were to get inside the house, there would be a chance of it navigating internal stairs.
Unfortunately for snake phobics, these animals are able to get upstairs relatively easily. However, there is some good news; not all snakes would be able to do this and the size of the stairs has a lot to do with their ability.
When snakes crawl across the ground, they use their incredibly powerful muscles to contract their bodies and then propel themselves forward. If you have ever watched a snake moving, you will know that this action happens very quickly. They are able to use this power to get upstairs in the same way.
However. in order to get up the stairs, the snake would need to be able to reach the next step. For this reason, only larger snakes tend to be able to do this, unless the steps are very short; whether this is good or bad news, we will let you decide.
Conclusion
Snakes can climb and they are pretty good at this depending on the surface. When it comes to walls, the snake will need to have a more textured surface where there are accessible climbing places. It would not be able to get up a smooth wall.
One of the main reasons that people worry about this is that they become concerned that the snakes may be able to get inside their homes.
To avoid this, you should always seal off holes or gaps in the walls and make sure that you do not have any prey animals lodging in the attic or other spaces in the home.
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