Snake Removal Laws in Minnesota: What You Can (and Can’t) Do Legally

Minnesota law treats the garter snake in your garden the same way it treats a threatened timber rattlesnake in the bluffs: as a protected wild animal. That single fact surprises most homeowners researching snake removal laws in Minnesota, and it shapes everything from whether you can kill a nuisance snake yourself to what happens if you get it wrong.

This guide walks through your rights as a property owner, which species carry extra legal protection, when a permit is required, and what penalties look like if you cross a line you didn’t know existed. Whether you’re dealing with a harmless bull snake under your porch or a rattlesnake sighting near a bluffland trail, knowing the rules before you act keeps you out of legal trouble and helps protect species that are already struggling.

Is It Legal to Remove or Relocate a Snake Yourself in Minnesota

All snakes are considered protected wild animals in Minnesota, and of the 17 snake species in the state, only two are venomous — the timber rattlesnake and the eastern massasauga. That protected status doesn’t mean you’re powerless against a snake causing problems on your property. Minnesota carves out a specific exception for landowners dealing with damage-causing wildlife.

Under Minnesota Statutes Section 97B.655, a person or their agent may take bats, snakes, salamanders, lizards, weasel, mink, squirrel, rabbit, hare, raccoon, bobcat, fox, opossum, muskrat, or beaver on land owned or occupied by the person where the animal is causing damage. You may take the animal without a license and in any manner except by artificial lights in the closed season or by poison. Relocation generally falls within this same allowance, since “taking” under Minnesota law includes capturing an animal, not just killing it.

The catch is that this right only kicks in when the snake is actually causing damage — not simply because you’d rather not see it. For a full breakdown of how this damage-based exception applies across other nuisance species, the wildlife removal laws in Minnesota apply the same underlying framework. Before deciding how to handle a snake, it also helps to know which of the types of snakes in Minnesota you’re actually looking at, since identification changes your legal options entirely.

Pro Tip: Photograph the snake from a safe distance before deciding how to handle it. Correct identification protects you legally and protects the snake if it turns out to be a protected or threatened species.

Protected Snake Species in Minnesota

Most snakes you’ll encounter around a Minnesota home are non-venomous and unprotected beyond the state’s general “no unnecessary killing” default. The common garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis, is by far the species most likely to show up in yards and basements, and it’s completely harmless despite its habit of mimicking a rattlesnake’s tail vibration when startled.

Two species carry heavier legal protection because of their conservation status. The timber rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus, is a state threatened species found only in the blufflands of southeastern Minnesota. Minnesota actually paid a bounty on timber rattlesnakes until 1989, and the toll was severe — nearly 6,000 rattlesnakes were submitted for bounty in Houston County alone during the 1940s, but by 1987 fewer than 200 snakes were turned in for bounty in that same county. That population collapse led to the species being listed as threatened in 1996.

The eastern massasauga, Sistrurus catenatus, is Minnesota’s other venomous species and receives similar protection. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources works to preserve and protect eastern massasauga rattlesnakes, partly because their smaller size makes them a target for collectors who illegally catch them for the exotic pet trade.

Feature	Timber Rattlesnake	Eastern Massasauga
Legal Status	State threatened	Protected wild animal
Range	Southeastern MN blufflands only	Southeastern MN, rarely encountered
Size	36–60 inches	Smaller-bodied
Primary Threat	Historic bounty hunting, habitat loss	Illegal pet-trade collection

Not every uncommon species gets this level of protection, though. Species of special concern are not protected by Minnesota’s Endangered Species Statute or the associated rules, which means the legal weight really concentrates on the two rattlesnake species. For a complete species-by-species rundown, the types of snakes in Minnesota resource covers identification markers for all 17.

Permit Requirements for Snake Removal in Minnesota

Permits enter the picture in two very different situations: when a protected or threatened species is involved, and when someone wants to keep a snake as a pet. For the first scenario, a person may not take, import, transport, or sell any portion of an endangered or threatened species under Minnesota’s endangered species statute. These acts may be allowed by permit issued by the DNR, but you can’t simply relocate a timber rattlesnake or massasauga on your own authority.

For general nuisance wildlife that’s damaging property, special permits may be issued with or without a fee to take protected wild animals or to remove or destroy their dens, nests, eggs, houses, or dams for the purpose of preventing or reducing damage or injury to people, property, agricultural crops, or other interests under Minnesota Statutes Section 97A.401. This is the pathway the DNR commissioner uses when the standard landowner exception isn’t broad enough for the situation.

There’s also a lesser-known permit track for people who want to legally own a pet snake. A snake, lizard, or salamander obtained from a permitted breeder, or one possessed before August 1, 2021, may be possessed as a pet, and the commissioner may issue permits to breed, propagate, and sell snakes, lizards, and salamanders. If you’re considering bringing in a snake from out of state as a pet rather than dealing with a wild one, review the pet import laws in Minnesota first, since import rules and wildlife permits operate under separate legal tracks.

• Permits for threatened species removal — required for timber rattlesnake or massasauga, issued only by the DNR
• Nuisance damage permits — for property damage situations beyond the standard self-help exception
• Breeder/pet possession permits — for keeping a legally acquired snake as a pet

When You Can Legally Kill a Snake in Minnesota

The self-help exception under Section 97B.655 is narrower than many property owners assume. It applies only on land you own or occupy, only when the snake is actually causing damage, and only using methods other than poison or artificial lights during closed season. Simply disliking snakes, or being startled by one, isn’t a legal basis for killing it under the statute.

There’s an important wrinkle around notification requirements. A person or their agent who kills mink, raccoon, bobcat, fox, opossum, muskrat, or beaver under this subdivision must notify a conservation officer within 24 hours after the animal is killed — but snakes aren’t named in that specific notification list, even though they’re covered by the same taking allowance.

Important Note: DNR’s general wildlife control guidance states that you must notify a conservation officer within 24 hours when you take a protected nuisance animal, while the specific statute language for snakes doesn’t list that requirement explicitly. When the rules seem to overlap or conflict, contacting your local conservation officer directly is the safest way to confirm what applies to your situation.

None of this applies to the timber rattlesnake or eastern massasauga. Because both carry threatened or protected status beyond the general wild-animal default, killing one — even on your own property, even if it startled you — isn’t covered by the standard nuisance exception. The same logic that governs nuisance take for other species shows up in Minnesota’s hunting laws in Minnesota and its coyote hunting laws in Minnesota, where damage-based exceptions follow a similar structure but don’t extend to species under separate conservation protection.

Rules for Venomous Snake Removal in Minnesota

Both of Minnesota’s venomous species are also its most legally protected, which puts venomous snake removal in a different category than dealing with a garter snake or fox snake. The timber rattlesnake is a docile animal that, although venomous, poses little threat to humans, yet many people feel compelled to kill any snake they encounter, including timber rattlesnakes. It’s actually very uncommon for rattlesnakes to be found around human dwellings in the first place, since they stick close to the bluffland habitat they depend on.

Because both species are protected or threatened, self-removal by killing isn’t a legal option, and even live capture for relocation should go through the DNR or a permitted operator rather than being handled independently. Correct identification matters here more than anywhere else in this guide. Venomous snakes in Minnesota have oval pupils, while non-venomous snakes have round pupils, and venomous snakes have undivided scales on the underside of the tail, while the scales are divided in harmless snakes.

• Check pupil shape from a safe distance — oval suggests venomous, round suggests harmless
• Watch tail behavior — true rattlesnakes hold their tail off the ground while rattling, unlike mimicking species
• Note location — timber rattlesnakes and massasaugas only occur in specific southeastern counties
• When in doubt, don’t approach — contact a conservation officer or licensed operator instead

Pro Tip: If you suspect a rattlesnake near a home or trail in southeastern Minnesota, back away slowly and call your local DNR conservation officer rather than attempting removal yourself. States with much larger rattlesnake populations, like the approach outlined in wildlife removal laws in Arizona, follow the same core advice: identification and distance beat DIY handling every time.

Hiring a Licensed Wildlife Removal Operator in Minnesota

Wildlife control management in Minnesota is overseen by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and while property owners have meaningful self-help rights for damage-causing nuisance snakes, a licensed operator becomes the better — sometimes the only legal — option once a protected or venomous species is involved. Professionals carry the permits and training needed to handle situations that fall outside the standard landowner exception.

A licensed operator is worth calling when you’re dealing with a suspected rattlesnake, when a snake has taken up residence somewhere hard to access safely, or when you simply don’t want to handle identification and removal yourself. Look for an operator who can document their DNR authorization, uses humane capture methods rather than poison, and is willing to explain which species they identified before taking action.

If you’re relocating from another state or comparing how removal rules differ elsewhere, the same self-help-versus-permit structure shows up in wildlife removal laws in California and wildlife removal laws in North Carolina, though the specific protected species and permit thresholds vary by state.

Penalties for Illegally Killing or Relocating a Snake in Minnesota

Minnesota’s game and fish laws set penalties on a sliding scale tied to the severity of the violation. A person is guilty of a misdemeanor if they take, buy, sell, transport, or possess a wild animal in violation of the laws, which covers most unauthorized snake killings involving a protected species outside the landowner exception.

Violations classified as gross misdemeanors carry much steeper consequences. A gross misdemeanor conviction under the game and fish laws is subject to a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $3,000 and imprisonment in the county jail for not less than 90 days or more than 364 days. Buying or selling protected wild animals pushes penalties even higher — a sale totaling $300 or more is a gross misdemeanor subject to a fine that may not be less than $3,000 or more than $10,000, and licenses held by a person convicted under this provision become null and void, barring them from taking wild animals for three years after the conviction.

Courts don’t stop at fines and jail time. Prosecutors must include a demand for restitution to the state for the value of a wild animal that was illegally killed, injured, or possessed, in addition to the criminal penalties otherwise provided for the violation. That restitution obligation applies on top of — not instead of — any fine or sentence.

Accidental encounters carry their own considerations too. Because taking an animal by motor vehicle is prohibited under the same statutory framework, situations involving a snake struck on the road fall under a different set of rules than intentional removal — covered in more detail in the roadkill laws in Minnesota.

Important Note: This article summarizes Minnesota statutes and DNR guidance for general informational purposes and isn’t a substitute for legal advice. If you’re facing a specific wildlife violation or need clarification for your property, consult a Minnesota attorney or contact the DNR directly.

Most snake encounters in Minnesota involve harmless species like the common garter snake, and the law gives you reasonable room to handle damage-causing nuisance snakes on your own property. The moment a rattlesnake enters the picture, though, the legal calculus shifts toward identification, restraint, and calling in the DNR or a licensed operator rather than acting alone.