I suspect that with all the road construction that you have had in that area, that the woods mice and rats have been pushed into the residential areas. As far as snakes.....well, I know what you mean. But let's face it, they feed on rats and mice. So more power to them, right?

I'd get rid of that ivy regardless of the critters. It just gets thicker and meaner and more of it. That is unless you like the looks of it. I have a lot too and the DH likes to see it climbing up the trees. So I get him to keep the rest of it mowed down.

Good Luck!
PB

Girlsaylorz: get a cat! My manx killed a copperhead this summer, which I was actually dumbfounded by, since they don't usually live this far south..wouldn't have been surprised at a whole slew of other posionous ones that call here, home. I second the ivy removal rec. Also, out of curiosity, have you examined the "rats" the cat has been killing? My other cat has been on a mole killing frenzy ( good kitty!) as of late...Also, for my 2 cents, i am not big on composting unless you are on a BIG lot. The smell in our notoriously warm and humid summers, coupled with an everpresent island breeze, is bound to waft over to the neighbors..........

Get a composter from a catalog that has a lid and DO IT.Snakes are our friends and should be welcomed into every yard.Snakes hide under things not in them(like Ivy). You can kill the ivy with Roundup but if nothing else will grow there then what will you do? A rat terrior dog will take care of alot of the problems if you do not want a cat.Also if your composter is smelling you are doing something WRONG. Nothing beats compost.I say go to some local plant groups and talk to them or go for a walk a knock on doors of people with good looking yards and ask them what they do. I have never meet a gardener who will not talk about their garden or offer advice to anyone who asks.Do not know what island you are on but in Charleston SC there is an island that sells seeds and helps peolpe who ask for advice.All I can say if read some books,look around,ask and just do it.

I know snakes are our friends but we all have friends we would prefer not to see so often. When I go out in the yard I stomp around for a bit to let the critters know I am out there. It must work for I haven't seen a snake this year and I am sure they are out there as all the neighbors see them.
You might try using shredded paper in your compost bin (with a lid). It works well as a "brown" source if you don't have enough dry leaves. When you have the right ratio there is no odor. I love using my compost and knowing that it was once an egg shell, an apple peel or a bank statement that I shredded!

Ok, I'm getting some good ideas here, and thanks to all who took time to respond.

Currently I'm mulching with the raked up leaves and pine needles, plus whenever I have a bag full of shredded paper from my paper shredder, I put that on one of my couple of piles, then put leaves over top so that things look uniform. Coffee grounds go on my beds too.

I have tried to resist putting out poison for the mice and rats here, allowing the cats to do what cats do. There are 4-5 cats that frequent the yard, and love to sun themselves here on the front porch or back covered patio, depending where it's most comfortable for them. As I have pet parrots, who like to be out of their cages in the house, I don't want a cat or a dog of my own, in the house. I'm trying to not have an outdoor cat myself either, since the neighbors have them. Can't change the fact that there's varmints around, but my guy here does leave doors open behind himself, alot! Last evening the huge orange cat from next door was in the entryway wanting to come in the living room! I freaked, but fortunately, had just walked in the door, and none of the birds was out of his cage. Whew! I do like to roll them outside, cages and all, as often as possible for fresh air, and it makes cage cleaning easy for me.

I have some bare areas under trees here, and don't have the ivy presently. I may do some mulched areas, and a couple of camellias in those areas, rather than ivy, per everybody's cautions. I love ivy, but don't like it as well as I dislike varmints. Making noise when I go outside to work sounds like a good suggestion also. The day something crawls or runs over my foot is the day I use my 15 acre yell. Thanks for telling me we have copperheads here! ugh!!

On the rat terrier, until I start seeing these critters inside my home, I'm trying to not have any other pets. But that's another very good suggestion, thanks.

girlsaylor

Off subject here, but what kind of parrots do you have? You might be interested to know that I saw a flock of quakers over Turners' Rock a while back...at first I couldn't believe my eyes and I thought they were "lovebirds", but since researching it, I've concluded that they must have been quakers. I'm in the market for a parrot myself...

You have mail, Wilmington Islander.

Ok, doggone it, folks, we didn't get the porch remodeling done quick enough. One blown boat engine and an emergency furnace replacement in the last six months kinds halted the remodeling project.

Anyhow, I can hear critters! Something has found its way into the crawl space! OMG, I am not going to handle this! Don't know what is up there, so not sure what kind of trap(s) are needed. I wonder if the guy with the cat has a trap...I don't want to poison critters and make his cat sick. iiiiiiiccccckkkkkkkyyyyyy

girlsaylor

If it's in the crawl space under the house, and you can hear them, you most likely have either 'possums, racoons or squirrels. Squirrels usually get up in the attic. Opossums and racoons love to get under a house.

De-con is a good solution if you don't want to bother with traps. It won't hurt the cats if they should eat a dead animal. It's not poison. It works by messing up with the animals blood clotting ability. Just put the trays of DeCon under the house, in sheds, etc. It's not a bad idea to put it in the attic either. Don't put it where birds can get to it. I don't think cats or dogs would bother it. They will leave the house to go seek water and die outside. Or at least that's the theory.

The dancing party I heard was up in the attic, over the kitchen. grrrrrr

Now I'm feeling pressed to put poison up there and get rid of them. I simply don't want to take the chance on something chewing wires to the new furnace or trying to make a nest up there. I guess even if it's squirrels up there, though they appear small, anything running around might sound larger than it actually is...

girlsaylor

Had to respond when I read the comments about using a rat terrier dog as rodent control. It works! We have a pedigreed yorkie who didn't know he was only supose to be about 7 lbs and has topped out at 17 lbs. He's clearly a throw back to his orginal lineage of rat terrier as he is death on mice! We live in the country, near a pond, woods and open fields, no mice in the house but they love the garage and old wood stacks. We would love a cat, but haven't replaced our last one as we love the birds more, and Poli does a great job of keeping the mice population at bay, which I like to THINK keeps our friends the snakes at bay also!

In the attic?? Might be mice, most likely squirrels. You need to get a couple of those humane traps. I don't think squirrels will eat poisoned bait. Those big rat traps might work. Also, check an see if you can find where they are getting in and out. Close off all entrances. They need only a very small opening.

Just to give you a little personal insight on this. We kept hearing noise in the wall between a bathroom and bedroom. We had just about decided the house was haunted LOL. A possum had crawled up the pipes to the tub, and made a nest between the tub and the studs. We waited until late one night and closed all the entrances to the crawl space under the house and prevented him from returning.

The next problem was A Noise In The Attic. Much too loud for a rat. A racoon had somehow wriggled his way through a very small opening where the drain for the A/C was. He couldn't get back out, so he squeezed his way up between the studding and the brick facing on the house into the attic. When we found him, after one really noisy night, he was working on enlarging a hole where the electrical wiring went from the attic down to the ajoining utility room. My DH enlarged the hole and left the utility room door open. He left. And all has been peaceful since. Next day, the DH was up there trying to trace where he had been and managed to fall through the living room ceiling. No injuries except to his dignity. The hole in the ceiling was quite a conversation piece for a while.
Good Luck!
PB

Another thought for you to worry about. Squirrels are prone to chew on electrical and telephone wires. Also, although it is not a real problem this time of year, during a drought they like to chew through PVC pipes that carry water. We had friends who spent several months away and came back to find $2,000 damage to their home from squirrels.
That scared us and when we had a problem we were advised to contact a company called Critter Control out of Savannah. It seems not every pest control company is licensed to trap and remove these pests. You can always trap the critter yourself but this company is great at finding/fixing the crevices where they got in in the first place. They are a bit pricey but it beats a hole in your ceiling and worse yet, a serious injury. Good luck. Ali