Snake in the run!

GoChick

Songster
11 Years
Sep 16, 2010
375
18
186
This morning when I went to open the coop for my six 5 week old chicks, there was a big snake in the run. Luckily it hadn't been able to get into the coop itself.

I though we had a pretty safe run, with hardware cloth on the bottom 30in and then chicken wire all over it, including the top. I am very careful never leaving food in the run at night, so as to not attract mice.
What did we do wrong? Could the snake have climbed over the hardware cloth and then passed through the chicken wire? This is my guess, as when I found the snake it had its head stuck through the hardware cloth, trying to get out of the run!!!

Do I need to put hardware cloth all around the run?
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thanks!!
 
Yes, snakes can climb under certain circumstances. This link shows a picture of a snake climbing up the trunk of a tree!

http://www.backyardnature.net/snakadap.htm

You have a couple of options to deal with this. One is to replace the chicken wire with hardware cloth. Another is to make a ledge above the hardware cloth level as described in this link:


A final word about snakes’ climbing capabilities. Many snakes climb by looping over objects and the above described design may virtually eliminate their entry. Others, however, can crawl up vertical surfaces if they are rough, such as the trunk of a tree or a brick wall (including the side of a house). This can be overcome on fences by placing a foot-wide ledge made of wood or metal flashing along the outer side at the top. This structure makes the snakes lean out away from the wall and it will lose its grip and fall.

http://www.americaswetlandresources...ckyard_habitat/KeepingSnakesInTheirPlace.html

Another option would be to put a smooth barrier (tin panels for example) on the bottom of your run to prevent the snakes from climbing up the hardware cloth.

You can try putting out some mouse/rat traps to cut down on the local rodent population: no food, no snakes. There are some other ideas in this thread too:

http://www.gbwf.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5868&highlight=snake&sid=32c7806d2e75398465e7023f5f75af7d

Good
luck!​
 
Thank you, elmo! Great links!!! I may just go with the hardware cloth all over... peace of mind = priceless :)
 

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