Do Garden Snakes Bite? Are they poisonous or not?

I always chased after snake tales, caught them and held them up to eye level and then watched them slither away. It truly is remarkable how a snake moves. 

There are things that amaze me—and how a snake slithers on a rock is one of them. 

I can remember specifically one time as a teenager, chasing after a little garter snake, grabbing it gleefully for my niece and nephew to see and as they squealed. The snake quickly lashed upwards, we all screamed and I quickly dropped the snake.

At that moment I wondered, “Do garden snakes bite?”

Do Garden Snakes Bite?

It’s important to understand how a garden snake is put together, so to speak. First of all, garden snakes don’t have fangs but they do have several rows of small teeth. 

They also eat their food whole, so somehow they need to have a way to get that big bite down the hatch and it’s those teeth that get the job done. If you’re curious about what a garden snake eats, check this out: What Do Garden Snakes Eat?

But this also means that they can bite you if they are provoked. 

Do Garden Snake Bites Hurt?

I would venture to say that anything that has the potential to bite and does, probably hurts the recipient to some degree. Thankfully, when a garden snake bites, it doesn’t do the damage that a set of fangs would. 

Are Garden Snake Bites Poisonous or Dangerous? 

Garden snake bites are not poisonous. But if they bite and you don’t clean and disinfect the wound quickly, properly and very well, then it can become infected. 

You may also find that the site of the bite becomes a bit swollen and itches for a while. 

There is a very small percentage of people who are allergic to the saliva of garden snakes. 

Do Garden Snakes Attack Humans?

A garden snake may lash out if they are startled and you step on their tail or pick them up. But for the most part, they will slither away when you come close. They won’t set out to attack you!

Garden Snakes and You

If you have garden snakes in your garden or around your property, you don’t have much to worry about. They are a docile snake that eats a lot of bad (but also good) insects, bugs and nuisances.