Snake got one of my babies :(

[SunBaked]

So sad

. I went outside to put my peachicks up for the night and there was a giant snake in their cage that ate one of the babies and was to fat to get back out. That or he was waiting to have seconds

. The cage is 3 feet off the ground and the holes are only about an inch wide so I never thought a snake could get them. It was huge, like 5 feet long. The little peachicks are like 2 months old, I figured they'd be to big for a snake too. Thank goodness it wasn't a rattle snake.

 

[Lothiriel]

I'm so sorry about your loss.

Was it a rat snake? Did you kill it?

 

[SunBaked]

It was a bull snake. Very pretty except for the big bump where my poor peachick was

. I had my hubby drive it down the road where there is nothing but desert and let him go. The bull snakes eat small rattlesnakes so I never kill them. Scary though, they look so much like rattlesnakes I always get cold chills when I see them.

It was no fun trying to catch the other 5 peachicks in the dark with the snake in the cage

I finally had to run get my hubby to help me.

 

[trailchick]

So sorry that you lost one, but at least you still have the others.
I also had a big bull snake eating chicks, but they were quail, turkey, and chicken. I caught it and drove 2 miles down the road and let it go because we too have prairie rattlers. Just couldnt kill it because they also eat mice, but it did have to move.
I have 3 peachicks that a couple of months old (Purple pied male, purple blackshoulder pied, & spaulding pied). I want to get out into a coop and I am afraid to lose them.

 

[ColbyNTX]

You can use a round minnow trap with eggs in it for bait. Works great for trapping snakes. It helps to dig a little trench so the little holes on the ends are close to the ground.

 

[trailchick]

The one I caught had its tail sticking out from between some paneling and insulation, in the wall. Just grabbed the tail and carefully pulled, had a stick in my other hand and a 5 gal bucket ready with its lid, and in it went. I had caught it before, but didnt haul it off far enough for it to never come back.
I should have taken a picture of it. Posted pics my sister took of a big black snake in "Predators and Pests".

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=562143