This is part of our series: “Things they never tell you before you move to Arizona” -kr
How might a snake get into your house? Hint: check your dryer vent. Here’s the back story and the fix.
One hot summer day, I was out in my rose garden and watched a black racer crawl up my dryer vent and disappear. HUH? This dryer vent obviously is close to the ground as are most. The flapper, it seems, was stuck in the open position and there was no screen to deter a snake or a rat from entering.
Not wanting to stick my face up the dryer vent to explore where the black racer went, I waited for him to come out. Then I became distracted and forgot about him.
A couple of weeks later, I noticed a distinct odor emanating from the washer/dryer area. Thinking that there might be a dead black racer in my dryer, I called the appliance guy and told him the story.
In the meantime, another snake made his way into the same vent.
Mr. Appliance Man said that he would come out and check things out, ONLY after I had removed the snake from the dryer vent. So I pulled the dryer out from the wall. The expandable thingy that attaches the dryer to the outside vent fell off, and out came this 5-foot-long gopher snake.
Well, it is pretty tight quarters back there, so I grabbed my 48-inch-long snake tongs and went after the wayward reptile.
As I grabbed for Mr. Gopher Snake, he managed to wrap himself tightly around the laundry hoses. A titanic struggle ensued. Finally I managed to get him free and tossed him out the back door. There was no sign of the black racer.
Gopher snakes are good. You don’t want to kill a gopher snake. In the first place, they dine on pack rats. Without gopher snakes and rattlesnakes, Tucson would be overrun with rats. Fortunately for us, Buddy, our Sonoran Devil Dog also likes to kill rats. Between the snakes and Bud, we don’t have much of a rat problem.
Secondly, snakes are territorial. I figure if I have a gopher snake around the yard, I am less likely to have rattlesnakes.
As I learned from Mr. Appliance Man, neither snakes nor rats can get in the dryer from the outside. Can’t happen. But they can get into the vent if you don’t create a barrier.
Fixing The Problem
Go down to your local hardware store and buy an $8 vent with a screen on the end to deter critters while the flapper is opened. Or buy a foot of what they call 1/2″ hardware screen. Cut to fit and attach it to the existing vent. Most vents are attached with 4 screws. You can attach the screen using these screws. Pretty simple really. Just make sure that the lint cannot build up. That could start a fire. Check it often at first.
Voila! No snakes or rats ever again in our dryer vent.
