For those of you out there that hate King snakes (black snakes)

[Pet Duck Boy]

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A "pet" wild snake? That's pretty awesome....free pest control and a free "pet". He's a beaut too. Unfortunetly my mom hates snakes. So far she's killed them evey time. So whenever I see another racer I usually keep quiet....we aren't having much luck dealing with the rats. My dad nearly poisoned my chickens.

 

[StrawberryHouseMouse]

lol love him he's so cute!

I have some cats along with the wild snakes to take care of rats for me. My momma cat killed a nice fat rat the other day and let the kittens play with it for a while. I have 5 cats >.< lol. My cat's been fixed for a little while now, and the kittens will be soon too, they got to get old enough to have it done. I actually have so many cats cause I took in a couple strays from the neighborhood. My neighbor found one kitten under her house almost dead. Took him in another that a friend didn't want any more. They are Indoor/outdoor cats.

 

[ivan3]

Very nice shot of a Speckled King with what appears to be an Osage Copperhead snack.

We have Prairie Kings and Speckleds, I'll throw them in the empty turkey feed container and `shoot' them before letting them get back to business:

Prairie (dorsal)

Prairie (ventral)

Juvenile Speckled King:

 

[StrawberryHouseMouse]

Why shoot them at all? Could simply relocate them.

The speckled king in my pic is a friend's snake. He was feeding it a DOR (dead on road) copperhead. He actually works with copperheads but that's his thing not mine.

 

[dchickenman]

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He means "shoot" with a camera. Puts them in the empty feed bin to get a better picture!

 

[nuts4hotwheels]

I love snakes too, especially colubrids like rat, king and pine snakes and no snake gets intentionally harmed by me. I raised a gopher snake for 13+ years and he was my baby. The reason a king snake has the name "king" is because it eats other snakes, this is also true for the king cobra.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Nice pics!

 

[huntercf]

Great Post. We had king snakes back home (black and white) and yes they did eat the rattlesnakes. We had to hunt the rattlesnakes because they would bite the cows and make them sick. I personally like all snakes, but kings are extremely beneficial as they take care of poisonous snakes and vermin, its cockroaches and ants I can't stand...go figure. Nice picts.

 

[4 Love of Baby Chickens]

I generally don't like snakes but I'd much rather have Black Snakes around than Copperheads and Rattlers. -shudders-

There is a huge Black Snake in the barn. Over 12 feet long!!!!

He's a big ol' guy. I bet he's been around since I was a little girl. He has gotten a few eggs but that was before my coop got revamped. Koda was going crazy trying to dig him out last winter from beneath one of our wood piles. He slipped away to the hayloft before Koda could even try catching him.

You should've seen her expression.

 

[StrawberryHouseMouse]

Quote:
He means "shoot" with a camera. Puts them in the empty feed bin to get a better picture!

Oooh DOH! lol