Huge Rattlesnake!!!!

[skeeter9]

I've been having problems with a couple of squirrels who think it's their right to dig under the cement around my coops and steal chicken food. Well, yesterday I went out to check on my juveniles, and found an enornmous rattlesnake in the pen with one of my chicks in it's stomach!!!! Apparently he had used one of the squirrel holes as a snake door into the coop and found a wonderful buffet inside!!! Of course, we killed the snake. He was at least 12 years old (missing some of his rattles), and was almost 4 feet long!!!! YUK!!! Now I have to figure out how to get rid of these darn squirrels!!!!!

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

So sorry about your chick. Good luck stopping the food thieves and predators.

 

[Tonopah Pati]

My Girls "The Snake Killers" have met their match! Large Rattle Snake in The run! They were in and out of the pen this morning, just so happened all the girls were in, when they all started screaming, clucking and came flying out of the pen. I thought at first that a couple of them had laid an egg at the same time. But, I thought I had better take a look see anyhow. WOWZZZZzzz! back in a corner curled up was a very large snake. of course the girls all followed me back in the pen, so I had to get them out of there. I called my son who lives next door, he came over and with a long stick got it out of the pen. He chopped its head off. The girls all came around to take a look at it. A couple of them took a couple of pecks at it. Jumped back and Ran, Yes Ran away from it. I walked over to the outside water spigot, My Gosh

there was another Rattle Snake, only a baby. so we killed that one. It was small enough that the chickens had no problem eating that one. I decided that I would cut the large snake in some smaller bits so that they might eat it. When I chopped it out came something that looked like a baby snake I saw 2 tails I pulled the snake futher apart and my gosh it was a mouse of some sort. I took some photos of all this going on. I know now that my girls have their limits on how big of a snake that they will attack. Smart. The snake got in by way of the rodent hole, and ate the rodent. It was in process of digesting it.

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

You can't off a big snake like that without posting pics

I wanna see!!!!!

 

[PIO-PIO]

I wanna see too!!!

 

[beefy]

maybe he got the squirrels too?

 

[chickenrunnin]

ACK!!!! I hate rattle snakes. When my brother and I were young my mom lived in Forsyth Montana. That was our first incounter with rattle snakes. They give me the heebeegeebees. We grew up in Washington where the snakes in the yard were our friends. Now let me tell you, I have never taken ballet, but when one of the yard snakes sneaks up on me or crosses my path, I quickly take on some of the ballet moves. Everyone, including my dogs laugh at my snake dance. I am sure I scare the heck out of the snake too as he/she dodges my ballet moves. I dont know what I would do if we had rattle snakes here and if I found one in with my chickens. Good grief....

 

[Tonopah Pati]

The small one, as you can see it is in several pieces.

 

[Tonopah Pati]

The two heads.

 

[Tonopah Pati]