Thanks for the responses. All make valid points.

I do have to say that I am seeing less snakes in the wild here in Knoxville - with population explosion and all the building going on. I can definitely see how 2 or 3 snakes removed from an area that only has 5 snakes (let's say about 8 - 10 acres) would have a dramatic effect on the snake population, especially if the snakes collected are females, but not necessarily the rodent population (again - owls, cats, foxes, etc.).

Snakes are such shy, innocent creatures (colubrids - I am not a fan of Vipers in the wild around me - though I would NEVER harm one just for being there) that it's a shame they aren't more abundant. Even driving down country roads in the summer at night gives no sightings 9 out of 10 times.

in my personal opinion, (i'm gonna use a local huge park for this example) a few dozen snakes removed from a square mile of field I doubt would have much of a local impact, even if it was half the population. it means more foods for the other animals that would normally have to go elsewhere. so thus the local effect isen't too local, the effect gets spread out and thus lessons since it'll be over a much greater distance. then thier are also other things to take into account, if the mouse population grows, then more mice will be hit by cars on the local road, more will get sick and die, more will get killed in fights, more will starve, more will get killed in nearby houses by traps and cats. as the population grows, more predators will enter to fill the gaps and control it, wether they mean to or not.

overall, it'll still balence out.
a few dozen snakes removed from a field isen't much different from a farmer applying pesticide to his crops. it'll kill the insects and all, but the animals that fed thier will find new places to feed, some of the animals that origionally were in these new places will find other places, etc. nature isen't a set in stone breeding/feeding process, it will flex and bend to control any population outbreak and shortage. thus, in the long run and widespread aspect of it, its only an unnoticable drop of water in the ocean of nature.


heres a bit of an example :P
in one of my old fish tanks, i put some wild caught snails in it
they would breed and breed until thier was dozens all over the tank, because thier was no predator in the tank
then they would consume all the alge and die off.
then a few weeks later the cycle would start up again and run over and over.
the 'predator' in the tank was thier hunger and the food supply.
as the snail pop grew, the food supply shrunk, then they'd die off and the alge would grow again, then the snails would come back and it repeated over and over.


remove the snakes, nature will step in with other predators and if not that, then starvation to limit the population.