Snake in my pond

[HeatherN]

Snake biologist here, I know I am late to this thread but a snake showing up at your pond means that it is thriving. Water snakes are not really huge into egg-eating, in my experience. They certainly will not bother adult ducks. They like to eat fish and frogs, generally. Sounds like you've made peace with the fellow, which is awesome. They are very cool to have around and some people even feed them little fish snacks! They are quite intelligent and seem to learn that people might feed them.
As far as snakes to "watch out" for, ratsnakes tend to be coop raiders. Kingsnakes might as well, though not as frequently. If any of these dudes show up, it's pretty simple to move them a couple of miles away and you should be set. Venomous snakes don't generally bother people too much if you leave them be, but I recommend calling a snake removal service if you are not comfortable having them around. Sometimes, just a local snake enthusiast will do it for free to save a snake's life.
Falcon500 is correct, it's much nicer to have this safe guy occupy this niche rather than a more problematic cottonmouth, who also loves fish, frogs, and water.

 

[RJKnott]

Snake biologist here, I know I am late to this thread but a snake showing up at your pond means that it is thriving. Water snakes are not really huge into egg-eating, in my experience. They certainly will not bother adult ducks. They like to eat fish and frogs, generally. Sounds like you've made peace with the fellow, which is awesome. They are very cool to have around and some people even feed them little fish snacks! They are quite intelligent and seem to learn that people might feed them.
As far as snakes to "watch out" for, ratsnakes tend to be coop raiders. Kingsnakes might as well, though not as frequently. If any of these dudes show up, it's pretty simple to move them a couple of miles away and you should be set. Venomous snakes don't generally bother people too much if you leave them be, but I recommend calling a snake removal service if you are not comfortable having them around. Sometimes, just a local snake enthusiast will do it for free to save a snake's life.
Falcon500 is correct, it's much nicer to have this safe guy occupy this niche rather than a more problematic cottonmouth, who also loves fish, frogs, and water.

Yeah we’ve made peace. I convinced my wife the little guy is beneficial to have around

And yeah the pond is a really thriving ecosystem with a ton of crayfish and salamanders and frogs.

I also named it terry and refer to it as terry so I helped to personalize it to my wife heh. So she is cool with it now.

The more I researched the type of snake the more I became cool with it being there. We have a garter snake living in our front yard and this guy in our back yard pond. All in all not the worst snakes to have

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Yeah we’ve made peace. I convinced my wife the little guy is beneficial to have around

And yeah the pond is a really thriving ecosystem with a ton of crayfish and salamanders and frogs.

I also named it terry and refer to it as terry so I helped to personalize it to my wife heh. So she is cool with it now.

The more I researched the type of snake the more I became cool with it being there. We have a garter snake living in our front yard and this guy in our back yard pond. All in all not the worst snakes to have

Good for you!

 

[CSolis]

I have to laugh a bit. Yesterday while sitting the coop with the kids (6 of them) one of them started running round and round the base of the privet tree that's in the center of the coop... round and round she went, and I finally spied what she was after. It was a gecko/anole/lizard that she was chasing. He finally dropped to the ground and scurried for the fence with all 6 of them in a grand chase. He escaped.. I sat there a while longer and noticed a big hoop de doo going on.. everyone was alert.. and down the same tree came a rat snake (not the same monster I saw heading for the coop the other day). Down he came and made a b-line for the fence as well... then all was back to normal as soon as it began. Those snakes will have to wait another 7 weeks for eggs. Maybe if they visit another time or two in the mean time and find no eggs they will move on to new territory (hopefully). I need those snakes around to keep down the rat and mice population.. but keep everything mowed up nicely so they have no cover to slither in.. Hawks and eagles are plentiful around here and can use a good meal.