snakes

[southdakota]

What is "rat wire".?
My cage had hardware cloth which I thought was small enough gauge, I obviously was mistaken. I will redo the quail cages in 1/2 x 1/2 hardware cloth.
I am very sorry to hear of your loss...at least it was two males...Mr. Snake ate my ONLY male in the pen of bob white quail...so now I have five hens and no roosters.

 

[Hannah hen]

Sorry, we talk funny down here.

Hardwarecloth and rat wire are the same thing (at least to me).
I know it's only nature, but it's hard when you go through so much to see it lost so quickly.

 

[drbreana]

Tonight when i got back from town I went to close the chicken pen and i found a rat snake on one of my astalathorps. I am new to chickens but i can tell you you need to always look out for snakes. It was my first chicken killed.

I've been having this problem too! My chickens aren't small enough for the snakes to eat, but that doesn't stop them from trying. All the books tell you that snakes take eggs and chicks. Well, I've got a plague of biblical proportion right now, and nobody's after the stupid eggs. I've been stuffing them in pillowcases and relocating them to a nature trail over 5 miles away because as a biologist I feel bad killing them just for being snakes. This was the first snake and his victim (she's fine). I didn't bother taking pictures of the rest of them, I was more concerned with catching them. They were all at least as tall as I am (64in) and one dragged on the ground even when I held it up in the air and stood on my tippy toes!

Sorry, we talk funny down here.

Hardwarecloth and rat wire are the same thing (at least to me).
I know it's only nature, but it's hard when you go through so much to see it lost so quickly.

Do y'all pronounce it "ret wahr"? That's how they say it at the supply store here in town and it took me a couple of listens to figure it out.

 

[MyTDogs]

Dr. B-

What kind of snake is that?

I've been having this problem too! My chickens aren't small enough for the snakes to eat, but that doesn't stop them from trying. All the books tell you that snakes take eggs and chicks. Well, I've got a plague of biblical proportion right now, and nobody's after the stupid eggs. I've been stuffing them in pillowcases and relocating them to a nature trail over 5 miles away because as a biologist I feel bad killing them just for being snakes. This was the first snake and his victim (she's fine). I didn't bother taking pictures of the rest of them, I was more concerned with catching them. They were all at least as tall as I am (64in) and one dragged on the ground even when I held it up in the air and stood on my tippy toes!


Do y'all pronounce it "ret wahr"? That's how they say it at the supply store here in town and it took me a couple of listens to figure it out.

 

[drbreana]

It's a gray rat snake. I live in an area where black and gray rat snakes are both quite common. Rat snakes "kink up" and go still when they're scared, so they're incredibly easy to catch. They do have lots of sharp teeth - I pin them to the ground with a rake and grab them behind the head so I don't get bitten. They don't seem aggressive, but if they're scared I can't blame them for trying to bite me.

Everything I know about handling snakes I learned from Animal Planet, which means I'm very poorly trained and have no business telling anybody what to do.

For the record, I wouldn't try to catch a rattlesnake. I'd simply retreat and let it have whatever it wants.

 

[drbreana]

Saw this on my way to work yesterday morning. I had to hustle it out of the road before anyone ran over it (and by "hustle" I mean I poked at it with my umbrella and disturbed it's nap). This is an eastern kingsnake and they eat rattlesnakes so I appreciate them!

 

[riley081]

I lost three chicks Monday night to some predator....no evidence...no bodies....nothing. Just gone! Three at once! They were in a coop with the flock...coop was shut but half door open at top for ventilation. Coop had dirt floor so its possible that something burrowed in and then out...but didn't see any evidence of that. I was heartbroken! We only had 6 chicks that three hens had worked so hard to hatch. I hate to take the remaining chicks away from their Moms, but I don't want to lose them too. We have electric fencing around the bottom of the perimeter fence and now close the coop completely at night (fan inside to help with this heat).

 

[Rock Home Isle]

I only have a couple of Garter Snakes in the backyard....

 

[Fridasmum]

Found this snake in my quail cage this morning, the large bulge on the left side of the picture is one quail that it had already eaten, there is another quail in it's mouth...these were adult quail in a secure rabbit cage, in a barn with hens and guineas free roaming all over the place...Mr. Bull Snake was over 4 feet long...once he ate the first quail, he could not get back out of the cage, although he tried...he shot out the side through the hardware cloth and came to an abrupt halt when his stomach with the chick in it was too big to pass through the hole...he then met Mr. Smith and Wesson .38 three times, and Mr. Shovel to the head once. I have always favored snakes because they eat mice, but when they eat adult quail, enough is enough.

I've heard of snakes getting stuck half-way out of the coup thanks to an undigested bulge in their body. Yuck.
Perhaps I should get to know 'Mr. Smith and Wesson .38' and invite him to my house too.

 

[Hannah hen]

I've heard of snakes getting stuck half-way out of the coup thanks to an undigested bulge in their body. Yuck.
Perhaps I should get to know 'Mr. Smith and Wesson .38' and invite him to my house too.

I like Mr Shovel better it only took him one try to Mr Smith and Wesson .38's three. Either way I'm sure the snake was dead