Snakes entering house through HVAC exhaust vent?

[legbuh]

This may sound like a weird question, but here goes.

We live in a 3 story stucco house (basement, main level and upper level). Basement and main level are heated and cooled by forced air unit. The exhause (2"pvc) runs out the south side of our house.

Now, in the spring and fall (and summer when it's not too hot) we have a lot of snakes (bulls and gardners) that love to sunbathe back there on our concrete patio.

Since we've moved in we've had mice and snakes in our house from time to time. We see them mainly in the spring and fall (when things start heating up and cooling down).

We've plugged every hole we can find and it slowed down (mice mainly). But every now and then we'll get a bull snake in the basement stuck on the mouse glue traps (in the mechanical room with the furnace, softener, etc).

When we first moved in we actually had a couple snakes on our main level... yikes!

Now, I'm convinced they're coming in through the 2" PVC exhaust for the HVAC system. It's about a foot off the ground and I could easily see a snake climbing it and going in and down to the furnace and then either into the vents or into the mechanical room.

This fall I put some vent covers on them and so far so good (but its past prime snake finding time too... lol).

I have a buddy in HVAC and he says no way could a snake get into the house that way. But I've actually found snake skins in the vents in the basement! I'll look up at the vent and see something, pull it out and it's a shedded snake skin. If they get in the vents, that explains how they possibly made it up to the main level. And also explains why they only get in through our mechanical room (the rest of the basement is finished).

Am I crazy or should I look for another source for the snakes?

 

[Travelover]

I can't speak to snakes, but I keep a screened cover on my intake and exhaust during the warmer months. Once it falls below 32 degree the screen comes off the exhaust. I made them from T fittings by cutting a 1/2" long piece of 2" PVC, then gluing screen over the center. This PVC nipple with screen then pushes into two openings in the T fitting. Very tidy.

 

[legbuh]

That's a good idea too.. this is what I added to my fittings on each end (it comes out to a T and one goes up and one faces down)

 

[Craig Clayton]

Have you checked the gap at the bottom of your storm doors. I have had mouse invasions when the nights get cool and the inner steel door is open at night and only the screen door is closed.

Craig Clayton

 

[legbuh]

Yep, even had exterminators come out and look over... filled all gaps they found and then I did another search myself and filled anything else I could find.

Since then it's slower, and no mice or snakes on the main level, but we still get snakes now and then in the mechanical room where the furnace is. And the skins in the vents tells me they live there, or have at one point. May be a good idea to get a vent cleaning service here one day.

 

[deepNdirt]

A 2" size pipes being only 12" from the ground would certainly make easy access for a snake, You're probably right about this being the place of entry,

Our house is over basement as well, 2/3 finished the other part is actually 6 1/2 ft crawl space, and where all the mechanicals are installed, I also seen evidence of a snake when finding a skin hanging from one of the heat duct pipes, I found that the only possible place to get in would be where the HVAC man had knocked a baseball size hole through the cinder block to run his set-lines through, leaving about a 1"x2" size area to the side of the set-lines, evidently this is enough room for a good size black snake to get through, He probably follow some field mice that had seen getting in this way as well, One day when going under there I found the 6 ft. snake stretched out on the top of the cap wall,.....Ah-Ha! He didn't like it none to well when I grabbed him up to take him out, I had a talk with him telling him the house is off limits and that he can have all of the outdoors he wants just leave my house alone, I then filled the gap with foam filler, I still see the snake around from time to time, but on the outside now:thumbsup:

 

[legbuh]

I tried talking with the snakes, but they didn't listen. So I give em a little tough love now when I see them crawling around.

 

[getrdunz71]

You might also try a few moth balls...I outlined my property cuz we had huge bull snakes and they seemed to disapear...

 

[legbuh]

I've tried snake away (smells like cinnamon) but it didn't seem to do anything. I don't mind them by the house, but in the house... no thanks.

 

[kolkmeyer]

Does your stucco go beneath the soil or stop some distance up the foundation wall? If the bottom edge is exposed you might want to put on some spider proof gloves and feel along the underside to see if there are any gaps. Especially in areas where there might be some styrofoam build up under the stucco ie: fancy corners or thicker base detail. Modern "stucco" frequently is not as solid as you might think. Also, if you have sealed some entry points, it is quite possible that snakes and vermin could be inside for months or longer and not reveal themselves. I have also seen both snakes and mice go up verticle surfaces that you would not have thought possible. Gable vents and soffit gaps are possible points of entry for some agile critters. Good luck.