I may never be a sane woman again after last night!
We have been doing our tax ~ which is an unmitigated nightmare, as much because the man & I work very differently & he thinks I am a computer genius just because I know a little bit more than he does, as anything else.So it had been a super stressful day & I was doing something I rarely do @ night in an attempt to destress; I was still up watching a movie on the computer long after I'm normally in bed, & my earphones in, which is a left over from when there were lots of us & several were very light sleepers.
I was zoning quite nicely when I thought I heard a chicken ruckus.
Now I don't know about your flock but once mine has roosted I don't hear a peep from them till first light so I grabbed my phone, which has the only torch we still own [all ours ended up in the lads boats] & headed out to check on the girls.
I arrived @ the pen just as 2 chooks fell out of the coop!
You can imagine my horror!
I reefed open the door to find a snake wrapped right around Gloriana several times!!!
I'm not frightened of snakes but they're not welcome to help themselves to my girls either so I grabbed the metal rake & began reefing the coils from around Gloriana. I found myself with one really, really angry snake as it slithered away from the body. I was trying to hang onto my phone & wield the rake when I noticed I had a Vorwerk on a stump & the snake was heading right for it!!!
Rake down, Vorwerk grabbed & shoved in the coop.
I made a quick exit to grab a pitch fork, shoved the phone in my teeth & proceeded to try & deal with the snake, who was proving an elusive customer. I wanted to try & pin the head with the rake & stab it with the pitch fork.
I tried bellowing for the man a couple of times but he's deafer than a door post & I wasn't holding out much hope of him actually hearing me. About 20 minutes in he wandered downstairs to fend of night starvation, noticed I was missing & in checking out the window heard me ~ @ last!
With the cavalry in sight I figured we had some chance of dealing with the snake. The man used to keep all sorts of reptiles, including snakes, as a kid, so while I know the theory I've never had to actually catch one. With me shining the torch the man was able to pin the head & shove the thing in a bag. Pretty sure we have nabbed a carpet snake.
I was pretty upset, thinking we'd lost yet another chicken when all of a sudden I hear Gloriana's distinctive, distressed honking. She was up & looking for a way back to her roost so I grabbed her & brought her inside for a quick check over, some electrolytes & a sip of water before putting her back on a roost. The 3 smaller Vorwerks & Portia were all huddled in the far corner nesting box so I reefed them out one by one & put them back on a roost too.
Here is the Lady of the hour enjoying her morning in the sun
View attachment 2588090
The snake is bagged & due for a long car trip later this morning.
It's over 6' long but very skinny & the man reckons it was starving.
It's in even worse shape now, with several puncture holes from the pitchfork!
View attachment 2588093
I found the hole the snake had made @ a join in the wire & mended it but I think I am even more traumatised than my chickens
Way to do what needed to be done! I'm so glad your husband was able to assist but you were fierce in defense of your ladies. That is something of which to be proud. I have never heard of a snake eating a chicken. I have heard of them eating eggs. Lordy. I am so glad you were up and able to intervene.
