Victor Snake A Way

FOR OUTDOOR USE ONLY

To repel rattlesnakes (Genus Crotalus) and checkered garter (Thamnophis Marcianus) from areas around houses, cabins, trailers, garages, utility houses, barns, woodpiles, sand piles, trash cans, and flower beds. May also be used around the periphery of gardens. Do not use this product at sites where snakes are believed to be already present as the deterrent effects of the product might tend to confine snakes to the treated areas.

Do not apply this product in gardens or in fields of crops grown for food or feed. Do not use this product near streams, ponds, pools, or water supplies.

Tests of this product have suggested that it can be an effective deterrent for the types of snakes listed above.

While the product might deter other types of snakes as well, it is not expected to consistently repel snakes of the following types: corn snakes and other rat snakes (Genus Elaphe); and “moccasin” snakes such as cottonmouths and copperheads (Genus Agkistrodon).

Snake Away Product Features:

1. Dry granular mixture is easy to apply and can be sprinkled by gloved hand around homes, cabins, trailers, camp sites, and garages.
2. Effective for 2 to 3 months; effectiveness is not destroyed by rainfall.
3. Snake Away is the world's only EPA registered, university tested, patented snake repellent.
4. Snake Away is proven effective against both poisonous and non-poisonous snakes.
5. When used and applied as directed, Snake-Away is environmentally friendly to humans, animals and plant life.
6. Snake Away has been universally approved and endorsed by naturalists, conservationists and ecologists.
7. Product efficacy reached over 83% in laboratory testing and almost 100% with field studies run by all 4 branches of the military.

How does Snake Away work?

Dr. T's uses knowledge of the snake's Jacobson's organ which controls a snake's sensory reception ability. As Dr. T's Snake-A-Way snake repellent's active ingredient vaporizes, it is brought into the sensory receptor (Jacobson’s organ) of approaching snakes and creates an immediate interference. The result is that the snake’s sensory system temporarily closes down, confounding the snake and scaring it into hasty retreat. This effect is only temporary, and the snake’s sensory functions will return to normal after the snake has retreated far enough away from the treated area.

How to Apply Snake Away:

1. Using gloves, apply in bands surrounding the area to be protected.
2. Use bands 4-5 inches wide to repel checkered garter snakes.
3. For rattlesnakes, use bands 8-12 inches wide.
4. In yards, lightly sprinkle Snake-A-Way over areas within the treatment band.
5. When the odor of Snake Away becomes faint, its effectiveness may be diminished. If this occurs during a season when snakes are active, retreat the area with enough of the product to restore the original odor intensity.
6. Re-treatment may also be necessary after heavy rains.
7. Do not use this product near streams, ponds, pools, or water supplies. This product is toxic to fish and may contaminate water.
8. Apply Spring, Summer and Fall.

Testing

Effectiveness test were conducted by Dr. Harvey Lillywhite, Professor of Reptology, University of Florida. Dr. Lillywhite is internationally recognized as one of the worlds leading research reptologists. Over ten years of independent research and follow-up tests were also conducted by Dr. T's Nature Products. Inc. The effectiveness of the repellent is demonstrated by the following experiments performed with various species and the product has been found to have a rate of efficacy that varies from 17% to 100% depending on the individual species.

• 87.5% Aakistrodon contortirix Copperhead
• 75% Coluber constrictor Black Racer
• 91% Crotalus adamanteus Eastern Diamondback rattlesnake
• 91% Crotalus atrox Western diamondback rattlesnake
• 91% Crotalus horridus Timber rattlesnake
• 91% Crotalus lepidus Rock rattlesnake
• 91% Crotalus ruber Red diamondback rattlesnake
• 91% Crotalus viridis Pacific rattlesnake
• 17% Elaphe guttata Corn or red rat snake
• 21% Aakistrdon platyrhinos Cotton mouth
• 47% Elaphe obsoleta Yellow rat snake
• 100% Heterodon platyrhinos Eastern hognose snake
• 100% Micrurus fulvius Eastern coral snake
• 50% Phython molorus Burmese python
• 100% Thamnophis marcianus Checkered garter snake

In as much as the normal behavior of snakes is to move slowly in a deliberate and investigatory manner, the experments were devised to test the snakes responses to the repellent in as near to normal conditions as possible. In use, the granular product is spread on the ground across an area where it is desired to prevent or discourage snakes from entering. Preferably, the granules should be spread in a strip 10-30 centimeters wide, although generally the wider the strip the better. In this manner, an odor barrier is provided that snakes are reluctant to cross. Additionally, a smaller amount of the product may be scattered in a diffuse or non-continous manner just beyond the strip, on the side away from the area to be protected. This added scattering of the repellent serves to lessen the probability of occasional snakes wandering beyond the strip.

After 2 months, a group of 16 snakes was again re-tested. In this test the branches of the Y were reversed, so that the repellent strip was at the branch opposite from that in the previous test. Moreover, the repellent used was five weeks old ( i.e., it had been on the ground outside, but protected from heavy rainfall). Test we conducted as described for the primary test above. Eleven snakes exhibited overt avoidance of the repellent, and four snakes crossed the repellent. Two of the snakes which crossed the repellent exhibited avoidance behavior first, eventually moving across the repellent strip while rubbing the head against the ground, seemingly attempting to escape from the repellent. Repelled snakes showed no hesitation to enter the opposite ( benign ) branch of the Y.

CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION

The principal conclusions from this study are as follows. (1) SNAKE-A-WAY repels snakes. (2) The efficacy of the repellent varies with taxon: some species are repelled with remarkable effectiveness, while other are not. How ever all species tested exhibit some degree of behavioral avoidance of the repellent. (3) There are circumstances in which individual snakes of all species tested will cross a strip of repellent, so the product cannot be regarded as an absolute barrier to these reptiles. Such situations are expected to be rare in natural environments, however, and (4) Use of the product can be expected to reduce significantly the occurrence of snakes within areas that are to be 'protected" by recommended use of the product. Typical behavior involved jerking the head away from the repellent after approaching it with the tongue flicks, then crawling away, often rubbing the sides of the head along the ground for a brief period. In one case the body of the snake started writhing after contacting the strip of repellent.

These behaviors were common and receptable, and they occured in some individuals as they approached the repellent from distances of 10-15 cm. Four snakes were re-tested two consecutive times, and all repeatedly avoided the repellent. In cases where snakes exhibited avoidance behaviors but nonetheless crossed the repellent strip. In various ways, it seems likely that a diffuse scattering of SNAKE-A-WAY pellets over the area beyond the strip would have caused the snake to eventually leave the area. Such procedure might also enhance the effectiveness of the product on substrates that are coarse-grained or uneven. Considering all the data, the fundemental conclusions regarding efficacy remanin the same. SNAKE-A-WAY should significantly decrease occurances.

Copperheads were strongly repelled by SNAKE-A-WAY, while the related cottonmouths were not. This result is interesting insofar as cottonmouths inhabit swamps and readily feed on carrion. It is possible that the sulforous smell of the repellent is normally encountered by the latter species, either in parts of the natural habitat or during carrion feeding, or both.