You certainly have heard of the miracle of essential old in repelling a wide range of bugs and plant-eater animals from your yard.
Thereby, if there’s an encounter with snakes in your garden, you may wonder if essential oils can be effective in repelling these reptiles. Therefore, let’s go into the topic in detail ahead to find the answers.
Essential Oils To Repel Snakes
Essential oils quite effectively repel snakes because snakes don’t like the scents of essential oils. However, not all essential oils are strong and efficacious enough in keeping snakes away from a place, a very powerful dilution of essential oils is required in order to deter snakes from an area.
Table of Contents
Among numerous essential oils, probably you don’t know which one is going to keep snakes away from your place, so bel list of different essential oils has been shortly explained to let you know the most beneficial essential oils that repel snakes.
Peppermint Essential Oil:
Peppermint essential oil doesn’t really repel snakes but if you still want to try it to fend off snakes, mix it with other essential oil that staves off snakes, and then use it.
Lavender Essential Oil:
Lavender oil doesn’t have a strong scent, rather it has a pleasant scent that is ineffective in repelling snakes which means lavender oil doesn’t keep snakes away.
Lemon Essential Oil:
There isn’t any concrete evidence about whether lemon essential oil repels snakes or not. However, the citrusy scent of lemon might irritate snakes and make them go away.
Cedarwood Essential Oil:
Cedarwood oil is one of those most powerful essential oils that evidently fend off snakes by making them feel confused and disoriented with its smell.
Tea Tree Essential Oil:
Snakes don’t seem to be bothered by tea tree essential oil, so they aren’t even repelled by tea tree oil.
Eucalyptus Essential Oil:
100% pure eucalyptus essential oil somewhat deters snakes from an area.
Cinnamon Essential Oil:
Cinnamon oil is considered the best of all essential oils that successfully repels snakes because it has a strong concentrated scent that snakes detest.
Lemongrass Essential Oil:
Lemongrass essential oil also somewhat repels snakes as snakes dislike its citrusy scent.
Orange Essential Oil:
Orange essential oil also has a citrusy scent so it may or may not be effective in repelling snakes.
Mint Essential Oil:
Mint essential oil alone may not repel snakes but if you mix it with other essential oils and got pepper, it may work to deter snakes.
How Effective Are Essential Oils In Repelling Snakes?
In terms of repelling snakes, if the effectiveness of essential oils is compared to a commercial snake repellent, some essential oils are as much effective as any store-bought snake repellent.
This is because the scent of some essential oils is too strong like commercial repellents which snakes find very bothersome and harsh, thereby, they immediately leave the area with a pungent smell of essential oil.
Cinnamon oil, clove oil, eugenol oil, cedarwood oil, lemongrass oil, garlic oil, onion oil, mugwort oil, and sage oil are some of the most impactful essential oil in staving off snakes.
What Essential Oils Do Snakes Dislike?
You can be in a predicament regarding which essential oil to choose for getting rid of snakes. Therefore, a list of 5 essential oil has been described below that are known to be useful enough in repelling snakes.
Cinnamon Oil:
Research has uncovered that cinnamon oil is one of those powerful essential oils that successfully repel snakes from an area/yard. Cinnamon oil has a more concentrated scent that snakes despise, thereby, they tend not to go to the vicinity of cinnamon oils.
However, remember that if you are using a dilution of cinnamon oil, it has to be a stronger one to work effectively.
Clove Oil:
Clove oil has been discovered as another incredible essential oil that helps in deterring serpents from an area. Clove essential oil contains eugenol as its main element which makes the oil highly beneficial as a snake repellent.
Besides clove oil has a pungent spicy scent and snakes can’t withstand such a strong spicy scent at all, so they avoid visiting places where clove oil is present. Know that clove oil and eugenol oil are necessarily the same thing.
Cedarwood Oil:
Cedarwood oil also cited as Ceder is an all-natural yet highly beneficial snake repellent as well.
Research has stated the fragrance of cedarwood essential oil leaves serpents unstable and disoriented, thus, upon smelling the scent, immediately they move to safety.
Anyway, make sure to purchase 100% pure cedarwood oil if you intend to use it to repel snakes.
Garlic Oil:
You can count on garlic oil to fend off snakes from your property.
Garlic oil has a very intense scent that snakes find unwelcoming as the smell of garlic leaves the visiting serpents feeling confused, thereby, snakes do not go to any vicinity with garlic oil’s smell.
Anyway, it’s suggested to use 100% pure garlic oil in undiluted condition to keep snakes out of your home’s boundary.
Lemongrass Oil:
Surprisingly, lemongrass oil as effectively shoos away these cold-blooded reptiles as it repels mosquitoes and other crawling/flying pests.
Snakes absolutely can’t withstand the citrusy scent of lemongrass oil, thus, spraying or applying directly to the places where snakes come will successfully repel them.
How To Use Essential Oils To Repel Snakes?
You surely would like to know the process of using essential oils to repel snakes successfully. So to help you get the best outcome, the below steps to use essential oils on snakes have been described in detail.
Things you need:
- Essential oil of your choice
- Water
- Sodium lauryl sulfate
- Spray bottle
Method 1
Pick Your Preferred Essential Oil:
As per research, cinnamon oil, clove oil, and eugenol oil are the most useful essential oils in terms of using them as snake repellent, so you can choose any of these essential oils as per your preference.
Make A Solution Of Essential Oil:
Now it’s time to make a solution using the essential oil, sodium lauryl sulfate, and water.
Take a spray bottle and pour 0.8 oz. of your chosen essential oil (cinnamon/clove/eugenol oil), then pour 0.8 oz. of sodium sulfate, and lastly pour 7.84 oz. of fresh, plain water. After that combine all of them by shaking the spray bottle vigorously.
Spray The Solution On Snakes:
After making the solution with essential oil, you must directly spray the solution on snakes aiming their heads or faces, it will make them run away. And make sure to shake the spray bottle well before you spray the solution on snakes.
Method 2
Take Your Preferred Essential Oil:
Whether it be cinnamon, clove, eugenol, cedarwood, or others, choose any essential oil.
Soak Cotton Balls Or Fabric Strips:
Take cotton balls or thin pieces of fabric strips as much as you want, and soak them into your taken essential oil directly.
Place The Cotton Balls/Fabric Strips In Areas Visited By Snakes:
After soaking the cotton balls or fabric strips, place the cotton balls or fabric strips here and there in the areas where snakes often visit. The strong smell of essential oil will effectively fend off snakes from that area.
How Do You Mix Essential Oils For Snake Repellent? What To Mix?
While mixing essential oils, you can either mix the essential oil of your choice with water and sodium lauryl sulfate or can mix 2-3 essential oils together with water.
Below 2 methods and steps for mixing essential oils For making snake repellent is described.
Mix Essential Oil With Water And Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
Pour All The Ingredients In A Spray Bottle:
Get a spray bottle first, then pour 0.8 oz. of both the essential oil of your choice and sodium lauryl sulfate, also pour 7.84 oz. of water into the spray bottle.
Shake The Ingredients Together:
Now just shake the spray bottle well to combine the ingredients, then you will be done making your snake repellent.
Mix Essential Oils And Water
Take 2-3 Essential Oils:
Take cinnamon oil, clove oil, and cedarwood oil as they are the most effective ones. Anyway, you can choose other essential oils too.
Combine The Essential Oils With Water:
Take a spray bottle and pour 1 tablespoon of all of your chosen essential oils into the bottle, and pour 2 cups of plain water too. Then shake the spray bottle very well to combine the ingredients.
Note: Oil doesn’t mix with water, so you must shake and combine essential oils and water before every use.
Final Thoughts
Essential oils work quite strongly as snake repellent, thus, using essential oils fends off snakes, specifically cinnamon oil, clove oil, and eugenol oil most effectively repel snakes as snakes dislike their scents. Know that your chosen essential oil has to be 100% pure to repel snakes fully.