Jess,
Glad to hear you'd like to live in harmony with your snakes. It isn't very hard to do, either.
mrgrayfarm and gobug's advice about closing up holes in your foundation and keeping the area free of debris is a good start. This will eliminate potential shelters and basking sites in your immediate area, which will lessen the likelihood that snakes will want to spend a lot of time nearby. Keeping the mouse numbers down is useful as well, and prevention is the best strategy- keep their food supply to a minimum, and again, reduce shelter for them. Don't rely on cats to control the mice. They're simply not good enough at it. In fact, they often kill smaller snakes which themselves are better at controlling mouse numbers.
Consider checking out some of your local species at a zoo, nature centre, or herpetological society, so that you get more familiar with them, recognize differences, etc. and become a bit more comfortable. Almost certainly, most of the snakes you will see are not dangerous in the least, though they can be startling. Garter snakes are probably the most numerous in your area, followed by a bunch of smaller, secretive snakes like red-bellies, browns, and ring-necks. Black racers and black rat snakes (both commonly called 'black snakes') are also likely fairly common (and both great for rodent control, plus black racers will eat other snakes, including copperheads!). Although they're mostly nocturnal, you might also see black kingsnakes, which also eat other snakes.
Glueboards might be a valid tool in the house, though personally I think they're not very humane. Outdoors, they're pretty irresponsible- all kinds of non-target things will get stuck to them, including many beneficial species. Beyond the rodent eaters, for example, red-bellies and browns eat enormous quantities of slugs, so they're great to have around a garden.
I certainly wouldn't condone things like leaving sacks out and then whacking them- again, lots of potential to kill off things that are beneficial and not dangerous. Snake shot and hoes are at least selective, though it is pretty debatable whether one should go this route. I'd say no, but many others will disagree. Before you decide, it's good to know the facts about copperheads, and venomous snake bites in general.
Although venomous, copperheads are not especially dangerous. They account for 34% of the average 7-8000 venomous snakebites annually in the US, so that works out to ~2500 copperhead bites per year. Of all US snake bites, studies report 5-6 deaths per year in recent years, mostly from eastern and western diamondback rattlesnakes. (
http://www.psychiatry.wustl.edu/Resources/LiteratureList/2002/August/Gold.PDF has lots of these stats, though I've pulled some from other sources as well.)
Copperhead bites are not generally life-threatening, and I was unable to find any records of deaths from their bites (though I thought I recalled hearing of one some time ago). Interestingly, I did find that deaths have been recorded from the bites of ducks, geese, and chickens! (
http://www.worldwideschool.org/libr...AnomaliesandCuriositiesofMedicine/chap14.html).
Many bites are on the hands, and many of these result from attempts to handle or kill snakes. Alcohol intoxication is a major contributing factor in human bites. One national study reports a 9:1 male to female ratio for snake bite victims.
Pets are at a greater risk of being bitten, and with a smaller body mass (usually!) they are at greater risk of serious complications or death. However,
http://www.vetinfo4dogs.com/dsnakebite.html is a site about treating dogs which have been bitten. This vet does not administer antivenin for copperhead bites, as they have seen zero fatalities.
Overall, I'd worry about lots of other things around a homestead a lot more than copperheads!
As for snake-away, I suspect that given a wide enough strip of napthalene, you could repel darn near anything! If it even works, it wouldn't be much use except for very small patches, unless you've got the budget of the US military- one website promoting the product describes how it was used in the middle east to keep vipers away.
Wearing boots is a good idea. As for the watermelons, I can't see how they would attract snakes; sounds pretty doubtful to me. I wouldn't worry about planting them!
Good luck with your new place!
Jeff Hathaway
(Sciensational Sssnakes!!)
