Did you ever reach into a half-darkened box for an egg and get a big surprise? Now I know where my eggs have been going. I hope he's earning his keep by eating rats and mice, too!
We have a rat snake but I have yet to find him in the nest box. I am 98% sure there is a black racer nest under the "duck house". I have to crawl on my hands an knees to get the duck eggs and will be correcting that situation VERY soon.
((Screams and shrieks like the wussy girl I am)) Get it away get it away!! Can you guys tell I have a huge paranoia of slithering snakes? I have only recently embraced my inner-chicken of big hairy yucky spiders that like to hang around my door.
WOW! Yeah, they're good for keeping rats and mice under control, but I'd rather have a couple cats!!! ... still, fewer vet bills I suppose. I definately wouldn't hurt it, but it's not good if you're going to let your hens hatch chicks!
i believe i would box him up and move him, don't kill it, there nice to have around the farm but not in the hen house
You would have heard me all the way to your house if I had reached into the nest box and had felt THAT! LOL I have yet to see a snake on my property but I know they're out there. It's a pretty snake though but you can keep it at your house. Laurie
I wouldnt mind that TOO MUCH if...It wasnt eating a bunch of eggs & as long as its non-poisonous. In South Carolina we had several venomous snakes & it became a real problem..nobody wanted to collect eggs & we had to put the broodys in a tote & bring them in the house. Nothing worse than finding that..but having it be a copperhead or rattlesnake. We had this 1 pen, the biggest ..we called it the "snake pit"....almost everyday we found some type of venomous snake. At first me & DH would carefully catch & relocate many miles down the road..well that didnt last long after i stepped on a cottonmouth & my neibors dog was bit in the eye by a rattler...6 vials of anti-venom at $500 a pop & a glass eye later we decided it was too dangerous to catch them..so they were all shot on site. We werent willing to risk out life just to save the snakes..no way
