We had a huge snake problem last year. We live in the middle of the swamp and I put the pond in a place that the snakes had been inhabiting for years. Finally, I netted the pond with a fine mesh net. I actually have two nets...the one on the above ground pond had 1/2 inch or maybe 3/4 inch mesh. The one on the in ground pond has 1/4 inch mesh. The snakes would slither on top, but could not get through. I would then catch them with a skimmer net...they would try to dive, but the net would stop them...and then I would relocate them. They do eat fish (they ate several of mine) and they chase the frogs away.
Of course, I never had copperheads or moccasins in the pond. We have lots of those bad boys around (all of my dogs have been bitten by moccasins, and thankfully, recovered) but usually hubby dispatches them with a shovel or a shotgun if they are near the house. Mostly near the pond I get mud snakes, water snakes, king snakes (I moved those to my veggie garden...they are welcome there) and garter snakes (I just leave those alone.)
The good thing about snakes is that they really are more afraid of us then we are of them. One way that we have battled the snakes this year is to make sure they had no place that was a welcoming habitat for them around the pond. Before, the back of the garden was an overgrown cattle pen (we used to have cows when I was a kid) and so no matter how many I removed, more seemed to invade. This year, the area is all garden or mowed and tilled. I have only seen one snake. I caught him trying to eat the eggs out of the mockingbird nest, so I caught him and took him to the bayou. I hope our luck continues.
These are from last year. I was catching snakes every single day for a while.
