Mr. Not so welcomed friend Kill or not?

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And I am pretty sure those black racers (it looks like a black racer to me) eat small venomous snakes like rattlers and copperheads. Good luck with this situation. You cannot let the snake come and go, but re-locating him, or killing him will not prevent the next one. And he could be useful if you can keep him out of your coop.
 
Snakes are almost imposable to exclude. To prove my point 25 or so years ago I found about a 6 foot rat or chicken snake skin on top of my living room drapes where he shed his skin. I don't know if he climbed the inside of the window, if he climbed the drapes, or if he slithered up the wall paper but he shed his skin on the top of my living room curtains. It was quite some time before I stopped looking under the cover before I went to bed. I never saw him or saw any evidence of him again. Thank goodness.

As far as a rooster killing a snake, if he or his women can't eat it, he isn't going to tackle it. I found a 4 foot rattle snake crawling around in a brood pen one day, and the rooster and hen in that pen was going about their business like they didn't have a care in the world. If the rattler had been coiled up in the nest to rest a spell, I could well have stuck my hand in there and come away a wiser but a sadder camper.
 
mpguay said:
I've seen a few threads talking about netting to deter snakes. Here is one:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/231090/snake-net-catches-another-one-pictures

since I saw a 6 foot black snake coiled up 6 feet from the coop today, I think I'm gonna invest in some netting.

Black bird netting. you rolled it up lengthwise, and lay it on the ground around the coop. heres a pic of a snake getting caught up in it.
Click to expand...

This actually works very well. We accidentally caught a snake in deer netting about two weeks ago. I say accidentally as we had no intent of catching anything, I'd been working with the netting and had left it on the lawn when I went inside. Came back out and there was a snake caught in it! As it was non-venomous, my son got him out and relocated him. We have quite a few copperheads in the area and they all meet the axe should they venture anywhere near our house or coop.
 
I have killed racoons that would not stop taking my chickens, but seriously? Vengeance? Naw. Just keeping my food supply intact. Keeping the critters out is the better way to go, and I've been redoing my pens with that goal in mind. I also had a problem with rats getting into the feed storage, then running under a nearby house. Not good! I relocated my hound dog out there, and the problem stopped. She didn't eat them, they were smart enough to find another source of food (and hopefully, shelter - ick).

We should try to live with predators, instead of attempting to kill them. That philosophy has shown to be a slide down the slippery slope of complete eradication, something I'm sure no one wants. To that end, beef up your pens and coops, and look into the netting - that's an interesting idea!
 
I would grab the snake and relocate it if possible. If he continues to show up I would have to kill it or mh wifd would never set foot in the coop again.
 
Snakes carry disease in their feces. Not to mention, they have nasty bites that can infect pretty bad. I dont think i would want him around. They do eat mice, but so do muscovies and geese, even some chickens will eat mice. In light of that, i would either capture and relocate or kill.

I helped a friend of mine catch one once. We put eggs at the bottom of a 55 gallon rubbermaid garbage bin, it took a couple of days, but eventually he went in and could not get out. Throw a lid on and drive him out to the forest.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/517350/rat-snake-killing-my-half-grown-hens

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/379873/snakes-kill-chickens
 
You might consider getting a small flock of guineas. Guineas hate snakes of all kinds and will eat rodents too. The netting is a good idea, it does seem to work. Too bad he has picked up such a bad habit, he's beautiful and very valuable to keep the rodent population down. Hey, look on the bright side, it could have been a rattle snake. Please try to relocate it, if you can
 
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