Mr. Not so welcomed friend Kill or not?

[Sparrow]

Be thankful for your snake "problem"...and try to imagine just how much worse it indicates your rodent problem would be if they weren't present to eat them.

 

[Sparrow]

That's partly what I was getting at. If you feel you absolutely can't deal with any other method than killing the non-venomous snake, at least do it rapidly and humanely as opposed to bludgeoning it slowly or chopping it all over. It is not even remotely humane to kill a snake in these ways. I have personally found too many snakes that my former neighbor had chopped to death...that were still very much alive and trying to move away. And those that have been intentionally run over by a car and were stuck to the road with a huge portion of their body flattened but their head and front portion up off the road trying desperately to move. It is a fate that these animals do NOT deserve.

It is so easy to move a non-venomous snake, though, and they don't travel nearly as far as a mammalian predator will to return to your coop.

 

[bobbi-j]

That's partly what I was getting at. If you feel you absolutely can't deal with any other method than killing the non-venomous snake, at least do it rapidly and humanely as opposed to bludgeoning it slowly or chopping it all over. It is not even remotely humane to kill a snake in these ways. I have personally found too many snakes that my former neighbor had chopped to death...that were still very much alive and trying to move away. And those that have been intentionally run over by a car and were stuck to the road with a huge portion of their body flattened but their head and front portion up off the road trying desperately to move. It is a fate that these animals do NOT deserve.

It is so easy to move a non-venomous snake, though, and they don't travel nearly as far as a mammalian predator will to return to your coop.

That's how I feel every predator should be killed. No animal should be tortured, even if it did just wipe out your flock.

 

[shmccarthy]

That's how I feel every predator should be killed. No animal should be tortured, even if it did just wipe out your flock. 

I agree. I hate raccoons more than any other pest. I've always had a problem with them. I always make sure to shoot them in the head or the back of the neck so they die instantly, and don't suffer.

 

[Sjisty]

I agree, too. Torture is not my thing. The snake didn't care if the chicks suffered as he ate them. The axe was all I had at hand. My goal was not to torture, but to kill with the only weapon I had available.

 

[Mrwinchester]

wow killing for vengeance. am i on the right forum ??

 

[Gargoyle]

wow killing for vengeance. am i on the right forum ??

I don't think anyone is talking about killing for vengeance. They're talking about killing a predator to protect their flocks, and talking about alternative ways to keep the predator from attacking their flocks.

 

[LeBlackbird]

Wow, what a beautiful animal! I'd be extremely thankful you found this little guy simply eating eggs and not something bigger and hairy bothering the chickens. Please opt for relocation if possible, it would be a shame for the area to lose such a healthy predator. Non-venomous snakes like Garters, Racers, and Rats are essential to the environment and it kills me a little inside when I see a person kill them for no reason, especially out of fear.

 

[Cluky]

if the "guest" is threatening your flock KILL IT.

 

[happyfrenchman]

Can you snake proof your coop? Because killing this snake will not stop the next one. And if you could keep him out, he will eat the inevitable rats and mice that are always around a chicken coop. I would hope you wouldn't have to kill him. But you need to keep him and his kinfolk out of your coop in any case.