Q: Is it true that stomping my feet or hitting a stick on the ground will make snakes move away when I throw yard waste into the woods?

A: Your information is exactly correct. A snake’s brain is so small that it only has room for three questions when it senses something moving nearby. It wonders if the other creature is food, if it is a member of the opposite snake sex, or if the living thing wants to make a meal of the snake.

By stomping the ground as you approach your disposal site, any snake in the area will hunker down and hope you don’t attack it. Only if you inadvertently lift a log or reach into a tree hollow where the snake is hiding would you be in any danger.