How should an HOA board handle venomous snakes on common area?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 28, 2026

What an HOA board does about venomous snakes on common area: habitat cleanup, vendor rules, who to call in TX, FL and CO, killing and relocation limits, bite first aid.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The short answer

Most of the work happens before anyone sees a snake. Snakes come where there is cover and food, so the board's main job is to remove brush, rock and debris piles from the pool deck, playground and trail edges, keep grass short there and control rodents around trash enclosures and the clubhouse. When a venomous snake does turn up, keep people back, let it leave if it can, and call a professional if it is somewhere people have to be, like the pool gate or a playground. The wildlife agencies in Texas, Florida and Colorado all tell residents not to kill or handle snakes. If someone is bitten, call 911. Rules vary by state, by local ordinance and by your governing documents. This guide is general education, not legal advice.

Make the common area a poor place for snakes

Walk the common area with your landscaper in early spring and write down every place a snake could hide within 30 feet of where people walk, sit or play. The list usually includes rock borders, stacked pavers left from a project, firewood or lumber behind the clubhouse, overgrown hedges along the pool fence, tall grass at the trail edge, and gaps under storage sheds and pavilion slabs. Texas Parks and Wildlife tells residents to remove brush, wood, rock and debris piles. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) says clearing that debris discourages both rodents and snakes. Colorado State University Extension adds tall-grass cutting, rodent control and sealing openings in buildings with 1/8-inch hardware cloth. Texas A&M AgriLife says to trim low limbs, and notes that no chemical repellent has been shown to keep snakes away. Skip the snake-repellent line item if a vendor offers one. Put the fixes in the landscaping scope: mow the 10 feet next to playgrounds and trail edges shorter and more often, haul off project debris within a week, and keep mulch beds thin near the pool gate. For a small area that needs more protection, such as a play area that backs onto a field, CSU Extension describes a snake fence of 36-inch galvanized hardware cloth with 1/4-inch mesh. Get a price for it before deciding.

Rules for staff, vendors and volunteers

Landscapers, pool techs and volunteer work-day crews are the people most likely to meet a snake, because they reach into hedges, lift pool covers and move debris. NIOSH's guidance for outdoor workers says snakes are most active at dawn and dusk and in warm weather, and tells workers to stay away from tall grass and leaf piles where they can. Write a short rule into vendor contracts and the volunteer sign-up sheet: wear boots and gloves when clearing brush or debris, look before reaching into anything, do not try to catch, move or kill a snake, and report any venomous snake on common area to the board contact with the location and a photo taken from a safe distance. Ask the landscaping and pool contractors whether their crews are trained on snakes, and confirm their certificates of insurance are current. If anyone is bitten while working on common area, record it the same way you would any common-area injury. Our guide on how to write an HOA incident report after a common-area injury has a form you can use.

What state wildlife rules allow

Texas. TPWD rules make it unlawful to hunt threatened or endangered nongame species, and the state lists are in Texas Administrative Code sections 65.175 and 65.176. Collecting or selling rattlesnakes or other reptiles from the wild takes a nongame permit. TPWD asks people not to kill snakes, venomous ones included, and refers nuisance wildlife requests to Texas Wildlife Services at (210) 472-5451. Florida. FWC says there is no good reason to kill a snake except in the unlikely case that a venomous one poses an immediate danger. Some Florida snakes are protected, including the eastern indigo snake, which is nonvenomous and listed as threatened under federal law and FWC rule chapter 68A-27. Venomous reptiles may only be possessed under license. FWC does not license wildlife trappers but keeps a list of operators. Its nuisance wildlife page says trapping and relocating or killing native wildlife should be a last resort. Relocated native wildlife can only be released on property of at least 40 contiguous acres, with the landowner's written permission. Colorado. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) tells people never to catch, kill, provoke or move a rattlesnake. Its guidance allows a rattlesnake on a road, trail or in a building to be moved to a nearby spot, and one captured on property you own or lease must be released no more than two miles away unless CPW directs otherwise. CPW lists the massasauga, a small rattlesnake of southeastern Colorado, as a state species of special concern. CSU Extension, citing CPW, says killing a rattlesnake is legal when needed to protect life or property, by a method local ordinances allow. In all three states, the board should not authorize anyone to kill snakes as a routine practice.

Who to call when a snake shows up

Decide this before the season starts and post it. If the snake is moving through a lawn or trail edge, keep people and pets back and let it go. If it is in a place people must use, such as inside the pool fence, under playground equipment, in the clubhouse or at a mailbox kiosk, close the area and call a nuisance wildlife operator the board has already vetted. Get two names before spring, confirm they handle venomous snakes, get their call-out price in writing, and check their insurance. In Florida, use FWC's list as a starting point. In Texas, ask Texas Wildlife Services about operators near you. In Colorado, CPW's regional office can answer questions about moving a rattlesnake. Give one director or the community manager authority to approve a call-out up to a set dollar amount without waiting for a meeting. Sample motion: 'Move to authorize the president or the director on call to hire [operator] or [operator] to remove a venomous snake from a closed common area, up to $____ per call, with each call reported at the next board meeting.' If anyone has been bitten or the snake is cornered near people, call 911 first.

If someone is bitten

Post this at the pool, the clubhouse and the trailheads, and send it to every vendor. CDC says to call 911, keep the person still and calm, and not try to catch the snake. It lists Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222. NIOSH adds: remove rings and watches before swelling starts, wash the bite with soap and water, and keep the bitten limb in a neutral position. NIOSH also lists what not to do: no tourniquet, no cutting the wound, no sucking out venom, no ice, no soaking the wound, no alcohol and no pain relievers such as aspirin, ibuprofen or naproxen. CPW and CSU Extension say the same, and CSU puts it plainly: the most useful snakebite kit is car keys and a phone. Keep the posted card short enough to read at a glance. Afterward, the board writes an incident report, notifies its insurance agent, and reviews whether the spot where it happened needs cleanup.

Owner notice and a sample season

Send one notice in early spring, not one after every sighting. CPW says prairie rattlesnakes usually become active in late March or early April. Sample notice: 'Snakes become active this month. The association has cleared brush and debris near the pool, playground and trails, and we have moved the landscaper to a shorter mowing schedule along those edges. If you see a venomous snake on common area, keep away, keep children and pets back, and email [address] with the location. Do not try to kill or move it. The board has arranged a wildlife operator for snakes in the pool area, playground or clubhouse. If anyone is bitten, call 911. A first aid card is posted at the pool gate.' A sample year: February, landscaping walk and debris haul; March, owner notice, card posted, vendor reminder; April through October, monthly check of the pool fence line and playground edges during the regular inspection; November, review the sighting log and the operator calls, and adjust next year's landscaping scope. Our guide on how to respond to coyote sightings or aggressive wildlife in an HOA covers the sighting log in more detail.

Mistakes boards make

Telling owners or staff to kill snakes on sight, which puts people within striking range and can break state rules on protected species. Paying for snake repellent instead of removing debris. Leaving a rock border or paver pile next to the playground because nobody budgeted the haul-off. Waiting until a snake is under the slide to look for a wildlife operator. Sending alarmed emails after every sighting, which teaches owners to ignore the one that matters. Posting first aid advice copied from a social media thread that tells people to use a tourniquet or ice. Not reporting a bite to the association's insurer because the person seemed fine the next day.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

More on board & governance

Or browse all hoa boards & governance guides.