Gardener snakes and chickens

[RosemaryDuck]

I own several garter snakes as pets. They are completely harmless and their main food source is earthworms, slugs, small fish, frogs & toads.

They are a very small type of snake and are physically incapable of killing a chicken/duck/etc.

 

[abenardini]

I own several garter snakes as pets. They are completely harmless and their main food source is earthworms, slugs, small fish, frogs & toads.

They are a very small type of snake and are physically incapable of killing a chicken/duck/etc.

Agree with this. As earlier stated, there are larger constricting species of garter snakes but highly unlikely that it would ever, ever go after anything larger than a day old chick (and even then, probably not because snakes are opportunistic feeders). Don't get me wrong, I LOVE snakes and kept around 20 types when I was in my youth until early 20s.

Snakes are wonderful for our environment and fully advocate at not killing them at all. Snake proof and relocate if you find one, become familiar with the various species of snakes in your geolocation to know how to handle a snake when/if encountering one.

There are a lot of great forums to join to learn about snakes of your state. A lot of people in the south call any non-venomous snake a "rat" or "chicken" snake, but it is a local colloquialism I've observed.

I'd love to be surrounded by rat snakes instead of rats.

 

[MrFluffyandGirls]

Yep a garter snake. Caught them with large eggs swallowed whole. Caught them in the act of trying to swallow a chick. The ones around SC lowcountry get 4-5 feet lond and certainly do go after chicks and eggs.

 

[Windrider]

Yep a garter snake. Caught them with large eggs swallowed whole. Caught them in the act of trying to swallow a chick. The ones around SC lowcountry get 4-5 feet lond and certainly do go after chicks and eggs.

That is interesting. What species of Garters do you have in SC? I thought it would only be the common Eastern Garter, which does not get nearly that big.

In California, we have some pretty large garters. The Giant Garter, which can get 50-60 inches, but has a limited range and is very rare (an endangered species), and highly aquatic to boot.

Do you have Red-sided Garters? They are the next largest. Largest ever recorded one was 53 inches, but commonly much smaller. But I can see how they might be a danger to small chicks or eggs. I used to keep one as a pet and fed it minnows.

 

[LateBirdFarms]

My ladies eat the unwary garter snakes that wander into the run. Very efficiently I might add. I've got two in particular that have learned the grab and whack method where they whip the poor things back and forth against the ground until they've beaten the life out of them. The smaller ones get swallowed whole, the larger ones are ripped to bits. Never lost a chick or an egg to one though. Maybe ours just don't get big enough this far north?