snake in the duck house

[TLWR]

I went out in the rain this morning to let the ducks out. Could hear them making noise, but not quacking. And then could hear them flying in the coop. OPen the door and Cadbury flew out. More rustling around and quacking and then 3 more fly out. Weird. Then Kodiak was not coming out, but flinging herself to the corner. I open the roof to see what is going on and she flies out and I see a snack up around the door on the inside. I of course closed the lid as I screamed and kept the dog away from her morning routine of going into the house to look for any eggs I might have left for her so she didn't find the snake. Went inside, told DH to go check on the snake and dispose of it from the duck house. He went out and it was long gone already.

Poor girls did NOT want to go into the house tonight. I checked, noting in there. Hopefully I scared the crap enough out of it this morning that it won't come back and will find other dry shelter for the night. No clue what kind of snake. I don't stick around long enough to check.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I went out in the rain this morning to let the ducks out. Could hear them making noise, but not quacking. And then could hear them flying in the coop. OPen the door and Cadbury flew out. More rustling around and quacking and then 3 more fly out. Weird. Then Kodiak was not coming out, but flinging herself to the corner. I open the roof to see what is going on and she flies out and I see a snack up around the door on the inside. I of course closed the lid as I screamed and kept the dog away from her morning routine of going into the house to look for any eggs I might have left for her so she didn't find the snake. Went inside, told DH to go check on the snake and dispose of it from the duck house. He went out and it was long gone already.

Poor girls did NOT want to go into the house tonight. I checked, noting in there. Hopefully I scared the crap enough out of it this morning that it won't come back and will find other dry shelter for the night. No clue what kind of snake. I don't stick around long enough to check.

We have some pretty large Blk rat snakes around these parts 6' and they come into the duck/chickens house quite often I've gotten pretty brave about getting them out, I done gloves and use a rake to hold the snake down till I can pick it up behind the head then I carry it down the road a ways and turn it loose. Steve Erwin{Crocodile Hunter]would be proud of me. Now if it's a Copper head I call for hubs. They don't seem to be as happy with duck eggs as the Blk snakes are though.

 

[TLWR]

I think it may have been a juvenile black rat snake

 

[Amiga]

I think it may have been a juvenile black rat snake

Better that than something venomous. I read the post, and then, I was speechless. Well, textless.

 

[TLWR]

We unfortunately have rattlesnakes and cottonmouths and copperheads around here. We did have a venomous snake bite the doberman last summer.
Not a fun vet call - she said we basically had to wait 4 hours - if he wasn't dead in that time, it wasn't a rattlesnake and he'd be fine, just uncomfortable. He's still here.
DH says he has seen the rattlesnakes in the back yard. I can deal with the bugs here, but I have a huge phobia of snakes and I worry a lot about them with the dogs, ducks and now the chickens.

 

[Sparrow]

Unless you have chicks/ducklings or the world's largest black rat snake, they pose little to no threat to your birds. The birds, in fact, pose a significant threat to small-medium sized snakes.

 

[PeaChick C]

I agree with Sparrow. We found a scary big snake skin by our coop. We'd worried it would get in and Lil our chickens, ducks or guineas. One day we heard a horrible ruckus and the guineas all ganged up on the snake and were fighting over its remains!

 

[Miss Lydia]

I agree with Sparrow. We found a scary big snake skin by our coop. We'd worried it would get in and Lil our chickens, ducks or guineas. One day we heard a horrible ruckus and the guineas all ganged up on the snake and were fighting over its remains!

Yep my ducks will go after small snakes and the chickens too, but some of our Blk snakes are 6'long and very big around and go after the ducks eggs. I don't think they will tangle with big blackie. I'm glad your dog survived being bitten TLWR that had to have been scary.

 

[jclu16]

Do not like them since living here I saw one,three years, never ran so fast in my life, before the ducks came here. Can't even say the word or see them on tv will have dreams. I have two males so those slithering things will not get the ducks, just the eggs?

 

[Sparrow]

No. 99% of the "slithering things" you come across are completely harmless to you and your ducks.