A Good Snake

[LittleMissCountry]

We just moved a rat snake from near our coop to the woods on our property. He was big enough that I wasn't comfortable having him near the chicks but still wanted him on our property for rodent consumption. I haven't seen any mice or rats here yet, but have seen quite a few snakes.

 

[kwhites634]

Moved this guy out of our coop today. We pick up eggs early in the morning, found this guy when I brought some scraps out to my ladies later in the morning. I couldn’t figure out why my husband put our garden hose in the coop...until I saw how big it was...and it moved.

This guy will eat venomous snakes like Cooperheads and Cottonmouths. He’ll also eat rats, mice, etc. I have removed these snakes from neighbors homes and brought them to our property due to concern over snakes coming up from our creek out back.

Picked up the bucket, and moved him out, tipped him over and watched him slither off.

Definitely wouldn’t suggest messing with any snake if you are not sure of what it is...just in case. If you are unsure, call someone who is or a local wildlife officer, I know ours our happy to identify critters.

-Arkansas

Rat snake? They're about the only ones we have right around here, but there are Copperheads & Timber Rattlers seen frequently...not by me, thankfully.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Mothballs do not repel or deter snakes. It is an often repeated myth that they do....

I wish to remind all that any cure that sounds too good to be true likely is..... to good to be true that is.

 

[getaclue]

Well, my snake has reappeared. When we first move in, there was this huge black rat snake. He would sun himself on the stoop outside the screened in porch. When I needed to go to the coop, it would simply slither off. No big deal. That happened every day for about 4 days. On the 4th. day, it did not want to slither off, and did so very slowly. On the 5th morning, when I started out to the coop, it wouldn't move. I talked to it, coaxing it to leave, and was about to open the screen door to further encourage it to move, when it began striking at me through the door. Oh heck no!. There was a walking stick in the screened in porch, so I grabbed it. I headed to the door, and when I went to open it, it struck, but I had already inched the door open, so when it struck, I thwacked it on the head. Man could that thing move fast. I thought it had gone out to the other end of the property. Today, it was by my front porch, in a smaller palm tree. No one ever uses the front porch, so I don't really care if it hangs out there. Funny thing though...when it saw Dh, it took off. I guess it remembers me thwacking it on the head, and is now showing proper respect for people like it should.

 

[BlueLineClucker]

If ours pulled ‘attitude,’ I think I’d do the same. I caught ours creeping back towards our coop the other day, he quickly left when I started making noise.

 

[getaclue]

It's at least 6 ft. Again, a rule of thumb with me is "if the snake is black, don't kill it". I prefer black racers, but the rule includes black rat snakes, and indigo snakes too. I don't kill corn snakes or king snakes either. I will kill all types of rattlers, water moccasins, and coral snakes if the black snakes don't get them first. It's Florida, so we have just about every type of poisonous snake found in the US, and they're plentiful.

 

[happyfrenchman]

I have lost fairly good sized pullets to that particular snake..... (I call it a black Rat snake or a chicken snake). I have also had the snot bitten out of me by one of those... (Admittedly it was my fault). They definitely eat eggs and I would not want them in or around my chickens although their rat killing benefits are certainly good. I don't want them relaxing inside my coop and I darned sure do not want them in the next boxes. Some of those pictures (I think) are of Indigo snakes which are an entirely different animal with considerably different habits.

 

[deepbluesea]

Beautiful snake! I love it that you're not phobic--there's a lot of that going on around here. I have several neighbors who call me their snake lady--if they have one in their yard, I go take a look. If it's venomous, they can have at it, but if it's not, I usually take it home and release it in my backyard. Rodent control is the bomb.

 

[getaclue]

I don't let neighbors release snakes or tortoises in my yard, especially gopher turtles, which are actually a tortoise. No one around here has less than 2 acres, so there is no need for them to relocate anything. Besides that, gopher turtles are totally protected, and they don't dare get caught touching them, let alone picking them up to move them. They dig, so one or two are fine, but too many are not. I have my quota.

 

[imnukensc]

I don't let neighbors release snakes or tortoises in my yard, especially gopher turtles, which are actually a tortoise. No one around here has less than 2 acres, so there is no need for them to relocate anything. Besides that, gopher turtles are totally protected, and they don't dare get caught touching them, let alone picking them up to move them. They dig, so one or two are fine, but too many are not. I have my quota.

You gotta lot of neighbors coming over to release snakes or tortoises in your yard? Because their 2 acres isn't big enough?