When I was still living in WV, we had a pair of black snakes that lived in the dirt floored machine shed. Knowing the benefit of snakes on a farm, we never bothered them. They traveled between the different buildings regularly. We never knew where we would see them next. We also never had a mouse problem.
They never bothered the bunnies, chicks, guinea keets or baby guinea pigs that my kids raised for 4H.
They were very curious and liked hanging around on the rafters watching any activities in the machine shed. They eventually got so tame that power tool noises didn't even seem to bother them.
They were also very intelligent. If my husband was in the machine shed and a vehicle pulled up, they disappeared....
They taught my children a healthy respect for snakes and their place in the environment.
