SNAKE, SNAKE, SNAKE!!!!

[Sylviaanne]

I know you want to protect your hens......but the snakes do perform a valuable service. The rodents they eat spread hantavirus, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and the plague. They can have a litter at only five weeks old and reproduce at an alarming rate. They destroy crops. Without snakes the world would be overrun and starving.

I wish I had been there.
I would have gladly moved it for you.
Now all those rodents that snake would have eliminated will reproduce.

I doubt that. We have forest all around our property and when we first moved here my husband told me he saw snakes at the northwest corner of our property. We never did anything about them and I don't know where they go or what they do but as long as they leave my chickens alone and they don't bite anyone, they can live. That one by my coop, no, too close. About 3 years ago one bit my daughter but apparently they can decide how much venom to inject and either it didn't inject her or it was very little. Her toe only swelled a little bit. We took the snake with us to the hospital and they had a fit. Out in AZ they always told us to bring the snake with us if we could. I guess they would have just taken our word for it that the snake that bit her was a copperhead?

 

[Sylviaanne]

A snake will eat a rodent every few days my cats will kill several a night These rattlesnakes can kill me.. My cats will rub on my leg and purrrrrrrrr not counting the bull and other non poisonous snakes... I leave those for the cats to handle.. I alone shoot 30 to 60 rattlers a summer maybe run over another 20 or so... up here we kill them NO ifs ands or buts.. Here its a hour drive to a aid station then they fly you out to amarillo tx.... maybe you make it maybe you don't... Ya we kill them all and like for others to do the same thing...

As for my silos one full of milo and the other full of wheat no one knows better than I about the damage mice and rats can do to my seed and feed.. but the cats are way better then the snakes are.

Just wondering: Do you eat any of those .......... um, snakes? I have never tried snake but I didn't think I wanted to start with a copperhead. LOL

 

[dstinett]

I've been able to knock my snake problems down a bit with my homemade bait eggs. I hollow out egg and fill some full of table salt and the others with a mixture of vinegar, hot sauce, pepper, garlic, mustard and any other foul tasting liquid I have. Just seal the egg hole wax. Set eggs where you suspect snakes. I always find the snake trying to spit the egg out and hurling out of control. Then it is your choice what you want to do with it. My experience has been if there is one, it has a mate nearby

 

[Sylviaanne]

I always find the snake trying to spit the egg out and hurling out of control. Then it is your choice what you want to do with it. My experience has been if there is one, it has a mate nearby

That is what scares me. Possibly babies too. Aunts, Uncles, cousins, moms, dads, brothers, sisters, more babies.

 

[Sylviaanne]

I can and do see your point. I truly understand where you are coming from.

One of my other hobbies is keeping snakes, I have several corn snakes in an array of colors and one big sweet old blotched king. With venomous snakes, I know that deadly measures need to be taken sometimes.

I think what bothers me is the attitude that "the only good snake is a dead snake" from people who slaughter truly harmless and beneficial snakes. People who can't be bothered to know the difference.

And the slow painful beating to death of ANY living thing just kind of hurts my heart a little, you know?

Well, I didn't want to cause it pain but it didn't seem slow to me. I think you would say I have a slow burning anger against anything that would hurt me. Black ants, I HATE black ants. Bees are extremely beneficial so I try very hard to avoid them. Wasps, dead as soon as I can get some spray. I am not against all snakes. The first time I was around any snakes was when we moved out here. The first snake we ran into was a pygmy rattler. The 2nd was a ring neck prairie snake. Those were fun. When we moved to this house, no ring necks to play with. I think we have only seen 2 in 8 years. The old house had a ton of them.