Snake in the feed barn.... and I'm glad

[Lorettawyandotte]

Had an interesting moment with "my snake" I have named Alfie...one of my egg customers showed up (without calling) about the time I was heading out to collect eggs and do chores...he followed me out to the coop to get the eggs as I only had one dozen in the frig, he usually gets two and I had another dozen in the nests...well, big ex soldier spots Alfie coiled on an overhead 2 X 4 just chillin...the guy went off and I darn near had to fight him to keep him from killing the snake...I was just about ticked off by the time I dragged him back to the house to wash and carton the eggs...what a moron...shows up unannounced late, makes me late doing my chores, want to kill Alfie, had to tell him to remove his shoes at the door as he had been in the chicken yard, left the door open and the air conditioner was blasting away...had to tell this adult human to shut the door...his head must have been twelve feet up his butt or he was still freaking about the snake...go figger...

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

I didn't think there would be this many pro "snake- ers". That was the whole reason I started this was to bring out the good points. Here in Eastern NC we have more corn snakes than anything - the biggest one I have ever seen here was probably over 4 foot. Hog snakes are also common.

Plus we have the Copperhead (they don't get very big around here) Eastern Timber Rattler, and the Cotton Mouth. I have never seen a cotton mouth very far from the water. The rattler's do get big around here, I have seen 6 footers. As long as they keep their distance even the venonous snakes can stay.

Steve in NC

 

[Lorettawyandotte]

I have seen some whopping big Diamondbacks and Timber Rattlers on our ground but that was early on before we cleared a little, got dogs, hogs, goats, birds, bunnies and anything else you can think of short of an elephant...I have also seen Coral Snakes and Cottonmouths in the low areas on the south end...not so much any more...there was a time when they creeped me out and I thought I should kill them, but I never did but once...I had a Diamondback in a kennel run with one of my Doberman girls and she had no snake sense what-so-ever...she wanted to play with the pretty toy...I bodily tossed her out into the yard, leaned over the dog house and made short snakes out of the long snake...I felt badly but he just could not be there...and I was not a good enough snake wrangler to catch and release...I would have been bitten and died young and pretty instead of old and beat to poop...

 

[Punk-Rock_Chicken]

I agree! I wish others would adopt the same thought process. I can understand that they creep out and scare some people. But just turn the other way and the snake will go away. Or spray it with a hose if you dont want it around. They will HAUL BUTT if they get a good blast of water to the face! But dont kill it!! Here in Florida we've had many new neighborhoods going up EVERYWHERE!! Even building over swamp land. Where are the snakes supposed to go?! We also have alot of northern transplants moving down here, and most of them have the phylosophy of "A good snake is a dead snake" or "Just kill em all, just to be sure". I get REALLY T'd off when I hear them say something so idiotic like... "I killed a non-poisonous black snake in my WOOD PILE the other day". WHY?! it wasn't hurting anything in the wood pile!! It was probably eating rats and mice that were nesting there! Or "I killed it because my kid tried to pick it up". Well, keep an better eye on your younger kids when they are outside. This IS Florida! There ARE snakes here! And other "scary" things like alligators, spiders and scorpions! HELLO?! Shouldn't kids too young to understand not to pick up snakes be watched constantly anyways? Especially when you live in a state like Florida. You can't just open the back door and send them out to play on there own, so mommy can get a break. I raised 2 kids here and NEVER had an incident where my kids tried to pick up a snake...because my wife and/or myself WATCHED them when they were playing outside!! I do agree that I can be TOO arguementitive when it comes to certain issues, but I can't help it sometimes.

 

[Punk-Rock_Chicken]

Quote:
You did what you had to, you used your good sense. I agree that sometimes you do have to kill them because they pose dangerous threat, like your incident. He was probably scouting out the dog house for a new home. Try sprinkling moth balls(crushed up) around the perimiter of you yard or just the areas you dont want them in...like your dog's house aor chicken coop. Drop whole moth balls down hole in the yard or crack in trees, etc;. That REALLY works great to repell snakes.(and other pests too)

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Quote:
They seem to be on the move now around here this time of year - we just got quite a bit of rain so maybe that has them going? Or is it mating season? I have been seeing lot's of turtles to. I know I give Sharon the creeps when I go and pick them up. lol "honey come here, check out the fangs on this one"

Steve

 

[rhondapiper]

We have warring snake philosophies in my house.

Mine is, leave it be unless it's a copperhead, then relocate it. I'm sure you can guess the other perspective.

I had a fantastic roommate in an old city rowhouse I rented as a teen- a huge blacksnake who lived in my basement and took care of vermin. He was free to live there as long as he liked.

Now, I live in the woods right near an enormous state park, and I have an abundance of critters everywhere. I leave them alone as long as they aren't coming after me.

I'm just predator proofing the coop like crazy rather than bothering the local wildlife who were here first.