A 3 1/2 week old baby was eaten by this tonight

[Stephanie739]

Yay, Munchie!!!!

Thank you Jim. Munchie knows I was very proud of the way he handled the situation. When I tried taking the picture, he kept smiling. I was trying so hard to get one with his teeth showing (big smile lol) but they were all blurry. The other dogs were distracting him. Finally I got him to be still, but he got in his super submissive position and lost the smile...he is so sweet.

 

[Stephanie739]

Oh! I was a little freaked out just now when I saw this about 6 inches from my almost 5 week old chicks! Thankfully, he didn't get any and we drove him about a mile down the road and released him in the woods. The only problem is that I don't believe this is the one that ate my baby last week. He seems smaller...my neighbor said he believes a few of these are living in another neighbors yard. ugh.

 

[Stephanie739]

I don't know...what do you think? Was he back from seconds or is this a different snake?

 

[Stephanie739]

Nope...its a different snake. I'm pretty sure. Darn!!!

 

[Reurra]

How big does a snake get in order to be able to kill and eat a 5 week old bird? I have some older bantams in the coop and we have lots of littler garter snakes. I dont think they get much bigger than 1.5 feet long, and that would be a really big one. Should I be concerned about them getting to the babies?

 

[Stephanie739]

I think this one who was probably just over 3 feet would have had a difficult time swallowing one of my five week old babies, but I do have some bantam mixes in the batch that are a little smaller. The snake's head seemed small compared to the babies. Still the other one ate a chick and he probably wasn't too much bigger. This one was probably sizing them up. There were about 15 chickies lounging in the sun. I doubt a 1 or 2 feet long long snake could eat a 5 week old chick, but please don't take my word for it!

 

[jlquick30]

Thank goodness for your sweet puppy dog!! We have rat snakes really bad on our land... the husband caught a 5 foot one a couple of weeks ago, trying to find a way into our coop. We have all adult birds, but he was still worried for them so he killed that one. I hope you don't lose any more of your babies!

 

[Reurra]

I visited my sister in Texas once. Her neighbour came over in a tizzy about a snake in her grain barrel. He asked us to go over and remove it. It was big and black with a white belly, it was about 4.5 feet long. I thought it was a pet boa at first, then i realized it was a wild snake!

We took the barrel out into a field near the army base and dropped it off. it was a good 10 miles away lol.

Ive seen snakes eat eggs. Most snakes dislocate thier jaw and are able to swallow large prey, but i dont know much about garter snakes and thier abilities in swallowing large critters.

 

[bigoledude]

For most large-fowl, 5 weeks is pushing the limit for even a large rat snake. Rat snakes are about the biggest non-poisonous, chicken-eating snakes out there. The corn snake is just a prettier version of a rat snake. You can buy a decent bit of feed with the money a pet store will give you for a nice yellow/orange corn snake.

I don't kill many non-poisonous snakes. Only if they are threatening some bitties. My small chicks are usually kept in a coop/brooder that is enclosed in either 1/4 to 1/2 inch hardware cloth.

Poisonous snakes are dispatched as soon as I spot them. I have 12 grandchildren.....

I have a piece of 1/4-inch tubing that is bent in the shape that those snake-catcher dudes on TV use. That thing works like a charm on the non-poisonous ones! I'm sure it would work on the poisonous ones also but, the bullet beats me to it every time! LOL!!