Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!! SNAKE!!!!!!!! IN MY COOP!

[KelliV]

Snakes scare the poo outa me. We have a TON of them. I'll let them be until they venture into my line of sight, then they're done. That was a big snake, and I probably would've done the same thing.

Don't feel bad! We all prioritize differently, and if it scared you and you thought it might harm your birds, you did the right thing.

 

[TwistedSerpent]

Quote:
Actually thats very untrue, your at no more risk for infection or anything worse with a harmless snake bite then you are a simple scrape. Their teeth are so tiny even on some of these large 6 footer they just barely pierce the skin, were talking teeth point about the size of the period at the end of this sentance if not smaller. Every scrape or opening of the skin should be cleaned out immedeatly if you so choose to, being from a non venomous snake you have no higher riskof complications then anything else.

Everyone reacts the way they feel is best, but try to take a look at it from the other side. Someone posts about killing an animal that really didnt need too will bring up some strong emotions, especially when you combine disgust and hate with it. If someone said they hated something you really liked you would probably get a bit defensive too. All us "snake huggers" as is that next time if at all possible take the time to learn and ID which species are bad and which are good before looking to kill it. As said before many snakes are more benefitial then they are dangerous, feeding on rodents as well as other venomous snakes.

 

[ArizonaNessa]

Just wanted to say that you are much more brave than myself. The handle on that clever is about 12 foot too short for me

 

[Intheswamp]

Quote:
Hey chickenlittle. I'm sorry if you felt like I may have been bashing you or something. Everybody's got their level of comfort with different things and you handled the situation the way you handled it. I, personally, was just sharing information about snakes with you and truthfully hoping that next time you might take a different approach. BUT...I wasn't condemning you for killing the snake...you protected your chickens and that should be reason enough to you to do so...you don't owe an explanation to anyone.

Best wishes,
Ed

 

[pygostyler]

Cloves. Soak them, make a tea, spray around the coop. Or oil of cloves. The coop smells good, too. Snakes have to be really motivated to cross a smelly line (their olfactory powers are remarkable). Tried it last year after finding, catching, taking for a long car ride and dumping, many very large rat snakes. Sometimes I would open the nesting box and see a five-foot snake draped over all the nests like a Christmas garland. One was under my broody hen, I grabbed it with my snake loop, (which was easy because it had swallowed an egg which was halfway down) and managed to get it to spit the egg out so I could put it back under the hen! Started using the clove "tea" about August and didn't see a snake since. Just bought some clove oil and I am looking forward to using it and saving some money over my dry clove purchases. Remember that moth balls are a toxic, nasty confection, not good for you or your chickens! And sulfur just stinks. I have also heard that a big ol' turkey will keep the snakes away as well AND eat the mice! Hey, any excuse to have a big ol' turkey is fine with me!