Beware of Rat Snakes **GRAPHIC IMAGES**

[Warrior gamefowl]

This guy was in a nest last night. That’s the second big snake this week. He’s well over 6’. I have king snakes- they definitely get a pass. I get some garters and a hog nosed now and then they are gtg I get black racers that I let mouse around the feed shed . Occasional water moccasin. Them I kill.
This one had 7 eggs in his gut. I opened him up and got them back. I’ll put them in the incubator tomorrow
I’m a snake guy. I have a couple that I keep and breed- they are small king snakes- scarlet kings. I don’t like killing snakes but I’m not going to let them make a living on my livestock. Same with raptors.

 

[Jennc-123]

You all make me glad to be in southern BC. I have mice, but secure food. Either they drown in the chicken water or the chickens toss them in.

 

[Ladybluearm]

We have many rat snakes around, hundreds maybe. I’ve seen about twenty. I keep them around and would never harm one. Even though they do stuff like that they have the right to live. They are still living animals. It’s like killing chickens and just throwing them away because they are eating snakes, lizards, bugs, or something you want to have around.

I have to disagree. If the snakes are anywhere close to my chicken coops, they get the shovel on the back of the head and buried.

 

[NewChick2016]

It's tough. That's my ideal approach, and the one I respect most (I have trouble killing any living thing, down to insects). But I put a lot of time, resources, and care into my very small backyard flock, so even just one loss is a huge one. Of course, since we upped security in our coop I haven't seen one, so hopefully I wouldn't have to deal with that. The neighbors, however, are away and cannot fortify their coop/run of 16 young birds, all of whom are vulnerable.

Was tough to see the sweet healthy poult dead like that, and not eaten either. Total waste of a vibrant life. If anything, it's good to know these snakes can and will kill chickens even if they can't successfully eat them--certainly a think to be vigilant about, ideally dealt with through prevention.

How do you get the snake out? Found one hiding in the rafters of my coop last night. Even if I wanted to, we aren’t allowed to kill nonvenomous snakes where I live. How can I keep it from coming back?

 

[Beaker99]

How do you get the snake out? Found one hiding in the rafters of my coop last night. Even if I wanted to, we aren’t allowed to kill nonvenomous snakes where I live. How can I keep it from coming back?

Crazy that's it's illegal. Put on gloves and stuff it in a pillowcase and drive it far away. Over a mile.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

I will testify that this is true. We have sadly lost birds over the years from big "chicken snake" rat snakes that attempted to swallow them head first. The bird suffocated and then the snake would "spit" back out the bird as it could not swallow it. A sad loss, but these large 3 ft+ plus snakes will try it.

 

[Jenny421]

I felt the same way until a snake got in the coop and ate a pullet. I had my husband pull out and kill it. I hated killing it because it’s just doing what snakes do, but it can’t kill my chickens. It was so sad to loose one in this way.