Snake!!!

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Sorry, double post

 

[zazouse]

lol no rat snake has ever gotten 10 foot and no rat snake can eat a full grown rir hen stop making up things please, the world record black rat snake is far below 10 feet.

I can promise you, you will not find a black rat snake longer than 6-7 feet in the wild today. 7 feet would be rare find.

Agreed

 

[bj taylor]

i didn't exactly measure "my" rat snake, but he was longer than my husband is tall (6'1") and big around as my upper arm. i haven't seen him in a couple of years. if he's still around, i bet he's bigger still. hope he doesn't come snooping around my chickies or we'll have a come to Jesus meeting.

 

[Ole rooster]

Day before yesterday I got my first rat snake too. I did what I've done every year with this girl and what a lot of you ladies would do, I caught it, sat down with her and had a talk. I told her I really didn't want to hurt her but I was talking her down the hill for the last time. This snake has been here about 6 years. If she comes back I will remove her head and put her underground. I really hate to do this but I'm hatching chicks now and I'm going to take a chance of feeding her with the babies.

 

[Roark]

Pretty sure I got this tip here on BYC's, try setting minnow or eel traps along the perimeter of your run, or along the side of your coop. If you're any good with hog ring pliers and snips you can make something up of your own. The concept is simple, a cone directs them in and once there, they can't find their way back into the narrow terminus of the cone - or the rough edges of the wire make it too uncomfortable to try.

Ditto the snake hook helper. It's like the house that Jack built... the feed and feces will attract rodents, which will attract snakes and bigger rodents, and cats, and possums, and foxes, and so forth. Unfortunately eliminating one element in that chain invariable leads to the unintended consequence of a population explosion of sorts somewhere else, so be careful what you wish for. Now if I'm tripping over copper heads on my way to the coop, that's one thing, but the occasional non-venomous I would seriously just try relocating elsewhere in the neighborhood. Do some research to get familiar with your native varieties, and if you continue to have worries, maybe hang a long cuffed welder's glove on a hook next to the snake hook. Also seem to recall mothballs being scattered around the perimeter keeping the snakes away, just make sure none of your domestic critters can get a hold of them.

Lastly, a three tine long handled cultivator turned upside down makes a dandy stand in for a snake hook if you don't have one handy.

 

[crittergarden]

Oh what am I getting myself into here!
I thought of dogs and cats and coons and coyotes, but not mice and rats and snakes......

OK, I heard your mothball idea. Anymore proven preventative measures?
I don't even want the mice and rats if there's a way to just stop it there.
I LIKE mice and rats when they're socialized to humans, but I don't want a yard full of wild ones.
And my neighbors have kids....

 

[thegreypony]

We had an enormous black snake on the property 2+ years ago (fwiw, it measured right at 7 ft and wasHUGE). I couldn't keep it out of the hen house though it never seemed to threaten the birds...more interested in eating eggs. Once the babies started hatching out, tolerance for that snake ended. The plan was to catch & relocate (arrangements had already been made for the release site) the next time we saw the snake but Mr. Snake chose to show up at a very inopportune time and met his end at the end of a shovel. HATED to do him in but the birds take precedence.

Last year, we caught a black snake stuck in the fencing with 5 day old babies in its belly. Off with its head...this time I wasn't upset about doing that snake in given that its belly was full of my babies. yeah...I know...killing the snake didn't bring the babies back and the snake was just being a snake. But...

6 months later we were tearing out an old tree stump covered w/English ivy. Found about 20 snake eggs...looked hatched out but they were old so who knows....

last Friday - 18 inch long black snake wrapped around fencing at chicken house. Off with its head. Baby snakes grow up.

I'd LOVE to find a way to have the snakes co-exist with the birds. We've always just let them be in the horse barn(s) without incident - except for the time one fell out of the rafters onto the blacksmith while he was trimming a horse's hooves...that didn't go over so well. Unfortunately, when it comes to choosing between the two - the snakes LOSE handsdown. If I can catch them up in a pillow case and knot the top real quick, great. Otherwise...

 

[Roark]

I wanna try and better qualify what I mentioned earlier. Mothballs are naphthalene, which is pretty vile stuff that you don't want in your soil, water, kids hands or pets mouths. I've no experience with it keeping snakes away, but it is an old favorite remedy, along with sulfur. The sulfur solution is only good till it rains, so keep that in mind, as well as where all of that excess sulfur is gonna end up if you use it long term. There's a product out called "Snake Away" that I believe is a combination of the two.

On the non-chemical front, I've also heard of people using everything from ceramic eggs and golf balls, to burnt out light bulbs, as a decoy/trap. If you're trying to eliminate a threat that isn't likely to stop coming around to eat your eggs or chicks on its own, I would say try all of the non-chemical approaches first, along with securing the house, and then maybe try the sulfur. As for the rats, mice, snake circle of life - you can help keep the rodent interest low with good housekeeping, but there are a lot of snakes that thrive on rodents, and their sense of smell I guess it is in tracking them is pretty crazy, so if one comes, it's only a matter of time until the other follows.

Don't know your other particulars, but we had great success in the past protecting our ponds with electric 'coon fencing. It was about 30" tall and I plan on using it around our runs and tractors to keep the foxes from diggin'. Worked before keeping the cats and possums away from our fish, and I'm guessing snakes too, since we used to see them all of the time near the ponds and after the fencing we never saw them again. Just anecdotal but it might be worth a try if the other ideas are unattractive or don't work for ya.

Other than the wire funnel traps, I've also read of folks using the plastic bird netting. One edge is buried a few inches into the soil and the rest is kind of bunched up and supported in a mass maybe hanging over a wire or line about two feet above the ground. Apparently some snakes will get tangled up in it. You could also try setting a couple of the large glue traps under cover, and staking them to the ground real good. Glue trap catches rat/mouse, whose scent and body heat attracts Mr. snake, and even Mr. snake isn't likely to get free of one of those big sticky traps I wouldn't think. Other than that, Seal up that hen house real good 'cuz generally once they have discovered a food source they will keep coming back as long as the supply holds out. You could also add some smaller opening hardware cloth, but rat snakes in particular are very adept climbers, so bear that in mind as well.

Last but not least, Ruger makes a nifty .22 semi-auto pistol, and snake shot is cheaper than the $5 a gallon gas used to relocate. Also works good on rats and scarin' the odd uninvited animal guest off at distance.

 

[Ole rooster]

I moved my rat snake squatter 3 times already. She kept coming back so I did what I didn't want to do. With the chicks coming I was not going to take a chance. And that darn snake insisted on staying in the loft of my shed. I don't like snakes overhead. So I don't anymore.

 

[Rebelfrompa]

sorry to bust anyones bubble but I am right now looking at an eight foot black rat snake and have had him living in my tool shed for the last 3 years. He is wild because I avoid him and he comes and goes as pleases. It has been rumored that there have been black rat snakes in this area up to over 12 feet and that the scientists from penn state saw their skins and commented that there where some pertty big snakes around this area. Living by a marsh we see numerous snake of different species. Water moccisin, copper head, masicuaga rattler (sp), as well as large garter and other others. Also saw a soft shell turtle the size of a large large black skillet. Just though i'd add my two cents. Can a black rat kill and eat or just kill a full grown cat?