Are Ultrasound Mouse Traps Safe for Snakes?

Designed to be plugged in to electrical outlets in the home, ultrasound mouse repellents--or "sonic mouse traps"--are widely marketed as a humane method of keeping mice at a distance. Snakes, on the other hand, respond differently to the frequencies put out by ultrasound mouse traps--largely because of the vastly different nature of their anatomy.

  1. Function

    • Ultrasound mouse traps emit a sound of very high frequency, which is--according to the manufacturers-- unpleasant to mice and drive them away. According to Leonard R. Askham of Washington State University, the ultrasonic frequencies produced by these devices do not carry more than 15 to 30 feet, and are easily muted by the presence of furniture. These traps are sold to repel mice and are not marketed for use with snakes.

    Features

    • Snakes have an entirely different biological blueprint than rodents, and this holds true to the way they "hear" sound frequencies. According to Doctors Foster and Smith of PetEducation.com, snakes rely primarily on their senses of smell and touch to take in the world around them. They lack anything resembling a mammalian ear, but can detect ground-borne--and to a lesser extent, airborne--sound vibrations through their skin, which then relays through a small bone called the columella.

    Significance

    • The frequencies at which a snake can detect sound vibrations are highly limited. This limitation is to the lower end of sound frequencies, report Foster and Smith. Perfect for detecting the footfalls of their natural prey (ironically, rodents such as mice), a snake's low-frequency sound detection renders them literally deaf to higher frequencies. As a result, snakes are utterly unaffected by the ultrasonic sounds emitted from electronic devices designed to repel mice, according to the University of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Services.

    Considerations

    • Since snakes cannot detect the high-frequency noise put out by ultrasound mouse traps, the reptiles are both unaffected and unharmed by the devices. The only real danger of such a device to a snake would occur if the reptile attempted to slither around the ultrasonic emitter and received an electric shock from the electrical current running from the outlet or extension cord to the mouse trap.

    Warning

    • While ultrasound mouse traps are harmless to snakes, other, less humane forms of mouse traps are not. If you keep a snake as a pet and are concerned about its safety, or simply wish to ensure that snakes in or around your house stay healthy, do not place rodent poison or lethal spring-loaded mouse traps in your house or around your yard. A snake might consume a dead mouse that has eaten poison, which will, in turn, kill the snake. Also, since their sense of smell is so finely-tuned, a snake that catches the whiff of bait placed on a snapping mousetrap might investigate and become seriously injured or killed by the trap.