Big Snake.....

[Lollipop]

Just procured some late season keets to free range on my 23 acres and help with the insect and tick population, when they get grown. The keets are 3-5 days old.

My stepson, Carter,lives in his own log cabin on my property. Last night he came to the house and grabbed me. Seems there was a big rat snake hanging out of the guinea box. I have them in a big dog box as a brooder and this snake had wormed about a third of it`s body through the 1" wire door and had a keet in it`s mouth. When I whacked it with the side of a shovel it coughed up the keet and squirmed out of the dog box, only to be dispatched by more shovel attention.

The keet is just fine, much to my surprise. Guess today I`ll be fitting all the openings with hardware cloth. The biggest worry I had was that a coon or dog might turn the box over and kill a bunch of the little buggers. Never even thought of a snake.

This is the second rat snake I`ve killed in 3 weeks. The first one had gotten into Carters house and was staring at him from the stairway landing. Those are the only two snakes I`ve seen since buying this property 4 years ago. Carter said he saw one in a nest box one night, but it got away. Funny, all the golf balls have dissapeared out of the nests, too. Wouldn`t ya like to watch them try to pass a golf ball? LOL......P

 

[Bridget399]

I have tons of rat snakes here as well. I know exactly how your son feels, because I've had several in my house, too! I have good luck with mothballs. I put them in a milk jug and poke holes in it (so none of my animals get it).
I also used a couple of cans of expanding foam both on my house and coop. I filled in every crack and crevice I could find. It's been a few weeks and so far, nothing!

Those black snakes can get huge! Someone told me that Guineas kill them... I would like to see that!

 

[WalkingWolf]

If the keet had any skin broken by the snake start antibiotics immediately. A snakes mouth is full of bacteria and you could lose your keet in a few days.

 

[Lollipop]

Thanks for the tips, youse guys. I covered the openings of the dog box with 1/2" hardware cloth. So far, so good. The keet is still very active, as are all 20 of them, so I guess the snake didn`t break the skin. They are starting to outgrow the box, though. Gonna have to make other arrangements soon. Thanks again.......Pop

 

[Debbienmousey]

Wow, that is great that you were able to save your little keets! Just think if Carter had not seen the snake in the box

About the golf balls, that's funny huh?

We also leave golf balls in the nests sometimes and come to think of it, we're missing some too..lol.

 

[ruby]

I am in neighboring Alabama, and as long as I have been keeping chickens I have dealt with many snakes of all kinds. When I started keeping Guineas, the problem was down 90% and they do hate snakes. I may be on the look out for some more. About 20 minutes ago I heard a crash and guineas screaming and I can only find one. So we'll see in the morning.