snake control

[fancbrd4me02]

Most people are bitten by snakes when they are trying to kill them.

 

[silkiechicken]

It's nice living where there are no poisonous snakes. Any snake I see is fair game to be picked up and played with for a bit and strategically released down a rat hole. LOL


Funny snake story...

Lift board on ground, mouse runs away...

Lift board a week later, two mice run away...

Lift board a few weeks later, a whole crud load of mice scurry off...

Lift board to set traps only to find one large garter snake...

Lift it again to show brother a few days later and find two snakes.

Finding this cool, lift it up again mid summer and out slithers a whole family of snakes. LOL

They were so cute and literally each one was the size of a pencil.

 

[Blueggchick]

I went to gather eggs the other day, and this is what I found in one of my nests. Its a rat snake...but it could of been something much more dangerous. Scary! I need to get some of that Snake away stuff also now. That is my husband handling it. He has already been bitten before by a Copperhead in the past, and it messed up his finger and hand pretty badly.

 

[TwistedSerpent]

Please, before you automaticly reach for the shovel take the time to understand more about these creatures, they are actually extremely benefitial to the enviroment, unlike the majority of predators which are under the pest status. A single snake will eat hundreds if rodents and insects that really do cause damage, and some species even eat venomous snakes. Infact many farmers love having them around as one of the best pest controllers out there. Most species are 100% harmless, its always better to take a few minutes and learn to ID them instead of automaticly killing all of them, as well as teach children to respect and not touch them. People fear what they dont understand, take the time to learn about them and you'd be surpized just how important and amazing they are. Respect will do more for us and everything else instead of fear, and this is a case in which its better to learn to live with most species then it is to fight against it. That being said there are a few tricks to help prevent them from where you want them, the #1 thing you need to know is they hate being out in the open, so by removing clutter, mowing lawns ect is going to be the most effective way of keeping them away.

 

[iajewel]

I live in an Oak forest, literally. The best control I know of is Muscovy ducks and pigs. Both suck them up like spaghetti. Gross.. I know..

One med. sized piggy running loose around.. not in your chicken pen and a few Muscovy ducks will greatly lessen your problems and you can eat the pig every fall after the frost, not feed it through the winter. The ducks on the other hand after hatching 2-3 clutches of about 20-30 young, will make you enough money to buy another piggy. Around here even male Muscovy bring about 10.00 a piece.

As for them being of bennifit, after you look past the eating of eggs and baby chicks and freaking you out when you reach into a nest box and accidently find one.

My Scottish grandmother would put bowls of water in her garden for them and if anyone killed a snake would have to repent to her.. then God himself if the snake bleed then we were all doomed to hell on earth.. but that was grandma. Personally.. Im all for controlling the buggers, as in ridding my life of them.

 

[TwistedSerpent]

Beautiful Ratsnake Blueeggchick, if it wasnt for those guys we would have huge issues with rodents in our feeds and grains for both animal and human consumption, and pretty much anywhere else.

 

[Blueggchick]

Quote:
Agree...as long as it wasn't poisonous, it was welcome to stay. But I had hubby put him way back in the woods away from my chickens. It alread ate a couple of eggs, and it was in the process of eating a third when I reached my hand in there. Scared me to death!!

 

[TwistedSerpent]

We have to do what we feel is best in every situation no matter what, but if that involves killing something totally harmless to you and your animals (which most of the snakes are, few of them actually get big enough to take down a chick and even fewer an egg as compared to the actual number of species out there) and refusing to see the actual good in something one just doesnt understand is quite sad. LEARN whats harmful to you and your animals, killing indiscriminately gets us nowhere and I would like to think we are starting to progress out of that stage on many different levels.

Very true though that pigs will suck up just about everything, just be sure to keep it out of the garden as well.

 

[RedfogsFlock]

Quote:
There is a thread on here about how to make a snake trap out of bird netting! It has some good pics too, you should check it out.

 

[bturbo87]

still trying to find the thread about the traps, if anyone knows the link please post it for me. Also, to everyone on thier high horse about not killing the snake... if it was a rat or corn or black racer, i would be the first one out there catching it, and then releasing it a ways down the road, or back in the woods. but when its a 2.5 to 3 foot water mocassin( cotton mouth) a very poisonous snake that will not only strike when threatened but is offensive. show up where my wife 4 year old son, 8 months old daughter, two poop-zhus, and chickens are and like to play. you had better believe that i will dispatch it to protect my family. that said please stop bashing us for killing the snakes, im sure that most people out there are able to figure out which is bad and which isnt, and act accordingly. thanks all for the help.