my feed room is infested with MICE!!!

[Folly's place]

Here we mostly have garter snakes. I'd love to find a nice black or rat snake, but haven't ever seen one around.
Mary

 

[BigBlueHen53]

The first black snakes I ever saw after moving here were nearly five feet long and scared the, er, snot out of me.... and I am not afraid of snakes! But I have no use for snakes in or around my hen house, as they gorge themselves on eggs. I have a zero tolerance policy for snakes.

Edit:spelling.

 

[50-45-1]

Here i have blue racers and weasels that help with my rodent population. My coop is secure except for a realy determined bear maybe.
I have been using the plastic buckets with lids for 20 years to store my feed, and nothing has chewed into one yet.
Goes to show, what works for one may not work for all.

 

[Chickassan]

Summertime here is just one long black snake rescue.
They head straight to the coop where i'd love to have them to weed out any mice but these goober chickens just won't have it.
Im envious, and I wish my snakes had better self preservation skills.

They probably do if they find it in the yard. Or at least peck at it. The 89" black snake i caught last year would have been a lot to handle. Other than the wood shed, the chickens do not have access to the places i put the snakes. They dust themselves on the floor of the wood shed, so i put the snxkes up in the wood pile itself.

 

[Mtnboomer]

The first black snakes I ever saw after moving here were nearly five feet long and scared the, er, snot out of me.... and I am not afraid of snakes! But I have no use for snakes in or around my hen house, as they gorge themselves on eggs. I have a zero tolerance policy for snakes.

Edit:spelling.

I have never found a snake in my coop. Its elevated (not that it matters as black snakes climb) but maybe it helps. Ive also never lost an egg that I know of to a snake but they are voracious predators. I do not recommend placing them in your coop. My brooders are in the garage (where i do put snakes) but they are fenced with 1/2" plastic fence. Any snake big enough to take a chick cant get in.
I used to work nights years ago at Home Depot snd i was known as the snake guy. Every time a snake was found in the store or garden center and i was working they called me to catch it. Depending on the species, i would relocate it to our property. No copperheads or rattlesnakes though. Those i remove from our place too and take to National Forest for release.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Since you are the Snake Guy, let me ask you what may be kind of a weird question. Can you smell snakes? As I get older, I'm more sensitive to odors, and snakes have a particular odor to me... I can tell when one has been around. It isn't pleasant.

 

[Mtnboomer]

Since you are the Snake Guy, let me ask you what may be kind of a weird question. Can you smell snakes? As I get older, I'm more sensitive to odors, and snakes have a particular odor to me... I can tell when one has been around. It isn't pleasant.

Snakes excrete a "musk-like" odor when stressed. Often when caught this oily nasty stuff is released and it is stinky. Other than that, I have not noticed a distinct smell or strong enough smell to say for sure "there's been a snake here."

 

[Folly's place]

Garter snakes have world class scent glands, and let loose when frightened. Stinky!
Mary

 

[proudchickenmom]

so I just have to catch a black rat snake, put it in the feed room, and let it eat the mice? sounds a little bit extreme but i will try it. about a week ago i heard a scraping sound coming from above my head in the middle of the night. i looked up and i saw a mouse jump onto my pillow and then crawl under my bed. i totally freaked out and since then i have been terrified of mice... i mean who wouldn't??? it was literally 3 inches away from my nose!!!! I know it is the only one mouse in our house because we set out traps for a week and we only caught one. could that mouse have come up from the chicken coop??

 

[Mtnboomer]

so I just have to catch a black rat snake, put it in the feed room, and let it eat the mice? sounds a little bit extreme but i will try it. about a week ago i heard a scraping sound coming from above my head in the middle of the night. i looked up and i saw a mouse jump onto my pillow and then crawl under my bed. i totally freaked out and since then i have been terrified of mice... i mean who wouldn't??? it was literally 3 inches away from my nose!!!! I know it is the only one mouse in our house because we set out traps for a week and we only caught one. could that mouse have come up from the chicken coop??

For everyone you see, there's at least one you dont. It probably did come from the coop. So long as it is warm enough for the snake to be active, it will feed so long as the food supply remains. The presence of a predator will also drive the mice away.