Snake in coop

[Ourgosling22]

They are terrible
I would walk near them and they would stand up on back legs ready to attack
I was worried they would find their way to the ducks or even my cats

That sounds bad! Be careful.
Unfortunately the boiling water did not work for me. Will have to do poison somehow.

 

[KreetchaKeepa]

Wow that’s cool! Awesome too.
Yes, it’s the venomous ones I worry about. The harmless ones if I can ID, I leave alone as long as they are not a threat to my flock.
I’m going to be picking up some ant poison that members told me to try for the mounds that keep multiplying and netting to wrap around my coop today. I worried all night, had bad weather too so wasn’t sure if that would attract the snakes to their coop.

We do the same thing. So far, we've only had copperheads and all sorts of "good snakes".

What type of ants are you fighting? Did you get netting on your coop yet?

 

[KreetchaKeepa]

You have yourself a nice hat band. Made one when we lived in South Carolina another one from a Canebrake rattle snake.

Husband and I are going to have a copperhead collar made for Georgia out of the next one. Thanks for the idea!

 

[5Australorpasaures]

Wow that’s cool! Awesome too.
Yes, it’s the venomous ones I worry about. The harmless ones if I can ID, I leave alone as long as they are not a threat to my flock.
I’m going to be picking up some ant poison that members told me to try for the mounds that keep multiplying and netting to wrap around my coop today. I worried all night, had bad weather too so wasn’t sure if that would attract the snakes to their coop.

I've watched our RIRs play keep away with an 6-8 inch water snake until the winner was able to gobble it down. Our Rattle Snakes are few and far between. Here in Jersey they are "Protected", until I see one around the buildings and cleared property.

 

[Ourgosling22]

We do the same thing. So far, we've only had copperheads and all sorts of "good snakes".

What type of ants are you fighting? Did you get netting on your coop yet?

I think they are fire ants. The boiling water didn’t work for me. Someone suggested trying orange oil. Haven’t tried it yet. I couldn’t find the netting I was looking for. Will have to order I think. I’ve been on lookout for more snakes near coop and run. So far so good.

 

[Berd Man]

Hi, everyone-
Just wanted to share I just killed a copperhead in my duck/geese coop. I’m officially freaked out and now second guessing about the safety of my feathered babies and coop design.
I’ve mentioned before about my sad luck. I’m having an ant mound problem that I’m trying to fix and now I had to come face to face with this now dead snake. Scared the c!#p out of me. I suppose we can only do so much for our charges.

I don’t think the snake in this photo is/was a copperhead. Hard to tell from the underside though. Maybe I’m wrong, I grew up catching and keeping snakes in the Ohio valley area most of my life. Looks like a grey or black rat snake, harmless to humans. May have eaten small fowl or eggs though. But if it is a rat snake they are really great to have around since they will keep pressure on rodents which steal feed and spread disease.

Kreetcha Keepas photo is a copperhead. Note the difference in scale color and pattern as well as the signature “viper” head.

 

[Ourgosling22]

I don’t think the snake in this photo is/was a copperhead. Hard to tell from the underside though. Maybe I’m wrong, I grew up catching and keeping snakes in the Ohio valley area most of my life. Looks like a grey or black rat snake, harmless to humans. May have eaten small fowl or eggs though. But if it is a rat snake they are really great to have around since they will keep pressure on rodents which steal feed and spread disease.

Kreetcha Keepas photo is a copperhead. Note the difference in scale color and pattern as well as the signature “viper” head.

Yes-I think it was a rat snake as well. I had spoken to someone else and they thought so too. I do get copperheads where I am unfortunately. This time it wasn’t thank goodness.
I apologize for my mistake. I have hard time differentiating between the two.

 

[Berd Man]

Yes-I think it was a rat snake as well. I had spoken to someone else and they thought so too. I do get copperheads where I am unfortunately. This time it wasn’t thank goodness.
I apologize for my mistake. I have hard time differentiating between the two.

No worries! It’s difficult to tell sometimes and often snakes have an effect on people and during the encounter the stress factor can inhibit making a correct ID. All creatures have their place, and I get that in a coop/house is not one we prefer them to be in haha. I keep a empty trash can and a snake hook/stick for relocating ones that need to be. My great grandfather would just smoke em with the shotgun or shovel… to each their own, but I do think you’d be surprised how many rats and mice one snake puts away in a year.

 

[Everose]

Yes-I think it was a rat snake as well. I had spoken to someone else and they thought so too. I do get copperheads where I am unfortunately. This time it wasn’t thank goodness.
I apologize for my mistake. I have hard time differentiating between the two.

You can always tell by the belly. Those scales on the underside of the tail indicate that it was nonvenomous. Copperheads are usually smaller, and they have different facial features.

 

[Everose]

No worries! It’s difficult to tell sometimes and often snakes have an effect on people and during the encounter the stress factor can inhibit making a correct ID. All creatures have their place, and I get that in a coop/house is not one we prefer them to be in haha. I keep a empty trash can and a snake hook/stick for relocating ones that need to be. My great grandfather would just smoke em with the shotgun or shovel… to each their own, but I do think you’d be surprised how many rats and mice one snake puts away in a year.

I always relocate them or leave them alone. I've never had a rodent problem here, and I firmly believe I have my opossums and snakes to thank for that. The only downside is that one of my dogs and one of my cats have been bitten, but in both cases they lived because copperheads are really bad at biting.