Ratsnake in the coop with the chicks....

[Sonya9]

Here in Calif we don't have the sheer # of snakes you have in the South/Midwest. Where I live we have a lot of gopher snakes & rattle snakes. So far, chickens have been safe, but our old pit bull was nailed on the nose by a rattle snake right on our patio. $2500 later, he was fine. What r u going to do... We're not rich, retired teachers, we couldn't watch him swell up & die

. I would be so furious if a snake got my girls. I love my chickens!

Glad to hear your dog survived! They do have Rattle Snake "vaccine" these days that is supposedly fairly effective. It isn't actually a vaccine but somehow it causes the bodies blood platelets to isolate the venom and limit the damage.

 

[fire370]

I've got a pair of Jack Russels that are killing machines. Broke them very early on not to kill chickens but take out everything else they can. Gator is snake killing little guy, loves them. Wake up to dead possums, raccoons, snakes, and the occassional feral cat by the back door. So I don't have to worry about the criiters too much. Several years ago I had a black lab get bit on the nose by a prairie rattler while dove hunting. Emergency vet lanced it and sent me on my way, said it'll run its course one way or another. He got to hunt a few more years after that. His head swelled like a basketball.

 

[Sonya9]

This snake posed no danger whatsoever to the OP - to the chickens/eggs, yes (though even that is not guaranteed as some snakes will come in search of rodents, etc. take maybe a few eggs but not harm the actual birds), but not to the human at all.

True. He tried to scare me off at first by striking and tail shaking, but when it came down to it he didn't even try to nip when I grabbed him.

Oh and today I went into the pump house and discovered the snake escaped. Grrrr. I used an old pillow case that had a TINY little tear near the bottom, I thought "no big deal it is way to small for the snake to fit through and he won't even notice it is there". Wrong! He found that tiny tear and ripped it wide open to escape.

Since the broody is sleeping in a cat carrier with her two chicks at night anyway, I think I am going to take the carrier in the house at night until I am satisfied that the hen house is snake proof when locked up. Would probably help tame the chicks anyway, especially if it involved bedtime snacks.

Here is a video of last year's ratsnake, that snake was MUCH larger and could swallow a 5 mo OEGB. She was also very beautiful and very docile. I wanted to keep her as a pet but realized she would likely never adjust to life in captivity eating frozen rodents, she would be happier in the woods.

 

[kyexotics]

We have an unwritten rule around here, we know snakes have a purpose but they have to do it without being seen...If we see them, they die, if that makes us terrible people, that's ok, we can live with that...I'm not learning which are 'good' and which aren't and my eggs are worth money, he can't have them for free!

 

[Mini Meat]

You may be able to take the snake to a place where they make anti- venom. It will be valuable to them.

You might try a few free range guineas to repel snakes. If they can drive a human nuts just imagine what effect they have on snakes.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

You may be able to take the snake to a place where they make anti- venom. It will be valuable to them.

You might try a few free range guineas to repel snakes. If they can drive a human nuts just imagine what effect they have on snakes.

If you are referring to the snake captured by the OP, there will be no value in regard to production of anti-venom as the snake is non-venomous. While *some* of the Old World rat snakes have been found to have a negligible amount of venom, none of them are at a level that is any risk to humans and there are no anti-venoms produced for them. For that matter, some of the most popular pet snakes (ie corn snakes) are of the rat snake family.

 

[Sonya9]

We have an unwritten rule around here, we know snakes have a purpose but they have to do it without being seen...If we see them, they die, if that makes us terrible people, that's ok, we can live with that...I'm not learning which are 'good' and which aren't and my eggs are worth money, he can't have them for free!

Thank you for abiding by the request in my original post and not turning this into a brag session about killing snakes.

Having said that, a venomous snake bite is very very unlikely to kill you UNLESS you have had previous exposure to the venom through contact (handling tools used to kill venomous snakes for instance) including airborne contact (gloating over a dead venomous snake), in that case the likelihood of dying from a bite goes WAY WAY UP!

Yup, the risk of a very rapid death due to anaphylaxis (thanks to previous exposure to the venom while killing snakes for fun) means if you are ever bitten there is a fair chance you won't live long enough to make it to the emergency room. In fact even if you were bitten in an emergency room there is a high likelihood they would not be able to save you.

Now folks like me, that leave venomous snakes ALONE, don't have to worry about suddenly dying of shock if we are ever bitten, our survival rate would be extremely high and we would have plenty of time to seek medical treatment.

 

[Mini Meat]

Quote: Good to know. I know nothing of snakes. I am not afraid of them, but have a heathy respect for them since I don't know which are poisonous (except for rattlesnakes...that I know).

I haven't seen a snake since I got my trio of Guineas.

 

[Bunnylady]

At the moment, I have a sort of "deal with the devil" going on with a rat snake. Over the years, I have lost quite a few baby rabbits and countless eggs to snakes; I have learned that they will also kill birds that are too big for them to swallow, if they can catch them. I have relocated several; I had one get out of a bucket with a lid while in traffic, and go out an open car window (I bet that looked wild to the folks in the car stopped at the light behind me!) But I also have an ongoing rodent problem, and the snakes can go places that the cats can't.

I do what I can to protect my animals; I haven't lost any baby rabbits since I started using cages made entirely out of 1"x1/2" wire for housing does with litters. As long as I don't catch a snake actually in a cage, it's allowed to continue to live here. At the moment, we have one large rat snake that I know of; this particular snake is a green rat snake, and it must be around 5 feet long. It's so big, I'm not sure it could get into a rabbit cage made with the typical 1"x2" wire any more, though I have only seen it in the workshop, not the rabbitry. Yesterday, as I walked in the back door of the workshop, I heard scuffling and thumping near the front door, followed by the sound of a rat squealing, then silence. Offhand, I'd say the snake is doing his job . . . .

Oh, and yes, they do hunt during the day. Most of my encounters with snakes have been by daylight; it's only during the warmest months of the year that it is warm enough at night for snakes to be active during the sunless hours.

 

[Sonya9]

Good to know. I know nothing of snakes. I am not afraid of them, but have a heathy respect for them since I don't know which are poisonous (except for rattlesnakes...that I know).

I haven't seen a snake since I got my trio of Guineas.

I couldn't keep free range guineas (I have six dogs, the chickens are kept in a fenced/netted run to protect them from the dogs).

I have heard guineas are good around snakes, do they alert to all snake sightings or do they just gobble up the baby snakes?