Larkwell Valley (2023)

[JacinLarkwell]

 

[JacinLarkwell]

View attachment 3874157View attachment 3874158View attachment 3874159

Welp, I guess I only have 2 duck eggs down at the barn now. Thankfully that egg was new, so anything developed was only 24 hours in at most. And I'd much rather the snake eat fresh eggs than the chicks running around. I mean, I'd really prefer that he eat the mice trying to take over, but if it's between eggs and chicks, I'll almost always prefer he eat the eggs

 

[Ifitaintbroke]

Welp, I guess I only have 2 duck eggs down at the barn now. Thankfully that egg was new, so anything developed was only 24 hours in at most. And I'd much rather the snake eat fresh eggs than the chicks running around. I mean, I'd really prefer that he eat the mice trying to take over, but if it's between eggs and chicks, I'll almost always prefer he eat the eggs

He should be full for a while. They have a pretty slow metabolism. What is he? I can't really tell.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

View attachment 3874157View attachment 3874158View attachment 3874159

The chickens were not happy with him. The roosters didn't know what to do (though thankfully they didn't try to go after him while we were down there), and my mama hen was very upset because she knew that he was dangerous to her babies, but he was right where she liked to go to sleep with them. Im hoping she found somewhere else safe to take her babies for the night.

That snake also ate 2 expired chicken eggs, so hopefully he was nice and full

 

[JacinLarkwell]

He should be full for a while. They have a pretty slow metabolism. What is he? I can't really tell.

Bull Snake. He looked like he's 3 or 4 based on his size and the scarring. We always prefer the Bullies to the Rattlers, even though we seem to have a higher chick loss with the Bullies (but that could also be a survivors bias since we shoot rattlers on sight and generally leave the Bullies if they aren't causing major damage)

 

[JacinLarkwell]

First time I've ever seen one eat an egg in real life. The first picture is what we first saw when we entered the barn, and the second picture was about 30+ minutes later. I'm honestly amazed that he managed to swallow that giant duck egg.

 

[Ifitaintbroke]

Bull Snake. He looked like he's 3 or 4 based on his size and the scarring. We always prefer the Bullies to the Rattlers, even though we seem to have a higher chick loss with the Bullies (but that could also be a survivors bias since we shoot rattlers on sight and generally leave the Bullies if they aren't causing major damage)

I'm glad to hear that. Most people have a very ignorant attitude toward snakes. Around here "the only good snake is a dead snake". I love snakes and catch them whenever I can.

 

[Ifitaintbroke]

First time I've ever seen one eat an egg in real life. The first picture is what we first saw when we entered the barn, and the second picture was about 30+ minutes later. I'm honestly amazed that he managed to swallow that giant duck egg.

Yeah that looked a bit uncomfortable.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I'm glad to hear that. Most people have a very ignorant attitude toward snakes. Around here "the only good snake is a dead snake". I love snakes and catch them whenever I can.

My grandma is extremely terrified of snakes, so she usually kills whatever she finds, which unfortunately is garters most times since she's in town.

We leave the Bullies if possible because they take up space from the rattlers, and there's an old wives tale that they even eat rattlers.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Yeah that looked a bit uncomfortable.

He was using his body to push the egg deeper in his mouth at one point, in picture 3. But the other two eggs he took were like ⅓ the size, so I guess he was still hungry.