OMG I am shaking. Please advise.

[clhbubba]

I don't mess with them anymore. I used to relocate every snake we found. Until they started killing my ducklings and chicks. My DH and I just killed two in our chicken shed tonight. I'm so sick of them. If they are eating my ducklings and chicks then they aren't out eating the mice, rats and poisonous snakes they are supposed to be eating. Besides, I have cats for that. I know a lot of people on here are against killing them, and I respect that. But here, they will get my shovel.

 

[luvmychicknkids]

My little King Snake will coil up and shake her tail sounding like a rattle every time my cats go near her cage (she does NOT like cats). did you actually SEE a rattle or just hear one? I have mentioned this on here before but think it is worth mentioning again, the Game and Fish Commission here swears the Black Rat Snakes have mated with Rattlesnakes making a mostly black, venomous rattlesnake hybrid. I don't know, I have certainly never seen one.

 

[Lady Nilstria]

Interesting tip of rattlers for people who may not know. It's a rather nice feature. If a rattler has made a territory, and you appear and live there, they will not leave. However, if you kill that rattler on that one or two acre territory, no other rattler will come to claim it. You won't have to worry about rattlers on that territory ever again. Tried and proven fact. (We used to have a massive rattler under our house eating our pets, until we killed it.)

 

[TexasVet]

If it's a snake and it's in my hen house, venomous or not, it's gotta go. And it's always better to err on the side of caution; just assume it's venomous.

Last year I'd killed three rat snakes that were nearly 4 feet long, so when I saw a big snake looking in my patio door, I figured it was just another one. Went trooping out there in the dark, wearing flip-flops and carrying a high-powered BB gun, when it started rattling.... long story short, it was a 4' 10" long timber rattler. Luckily it stayed still long enough for me to grab my boots and a .22 rifle.

Tip... turn your porch light off at night! The light attracts bugs, which attracts frogs, which is what attracted the snake.

Kathy, Bellville TX
www.CountryChickens.com

 

[hikerchick]

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All black, I think.

 

[hikerchick]

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The tail lifted and shook and I heard a rattling sound. Just like the time I almost stepped on a timber rattler. It did the exact same thing.

 

[hikerchick]

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I agree. I never believed in killing snakes until I just found this one in my pen. And, evening headcount revealed two mille fleur d'uccles gone without a trace.

This is war.

 

[hikerchick]

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That is a good idea. I have never been one to be afraid of snakes. But I think you are right. Just assume the worst.

 

[hikerchick]

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thanks. If it's this one then I still have to worry about my chickens but not my goats. Or my daughter.

 

[Sitka]

My understanding is that the snakes that imitate rattlers simply shake their tail and any rattling sound is the tail hitting leaves, etc.---they don't actually have rattles in their tail like rattlesnakes do. So if you are pretty sure you heard a true rattle, I'd assume it is a rattlesnake.