I had a garter snake (a pretty big one, about 6 ft long) in my coop, it would eat about an egg a week which was entirely okay with me. I used to own corn snakes and I work at a wildlife hospital, so I have a soft spot for snakes and their ability to control mice naturally. Anyway, I put out some raised bed gardens and then decided to fence them against the chicken destructo machine using bird netting held up by fairing strips. I found the snake stuck in it one day, it had strangled itself in the netting (I switched to chicken wire, harder on the pocketbook, but lighter on my karma). Now my coop is completely overrun with freakin mice, though I did find a baby corn snake in the foundation last fall, so I'm hoping she's big enough to eat mice this summer now that its warming up enough for her to get hungry.
I kill no snakes or spiders. I had a black widow in my window (hey, that could almost be a song) last summer and I relocated her and her egg sacs to the Croatan. If I find a moccasin, I just put a bucket over it and call animal control who calls the local venemous snake rehab guy to come and relocate it. I've seen snake bites, and they're horrible, but if I can relocate a snake, why take a life? The snake has to kill in order to live, I don't have to kill the snake in order to be rid of it. Two wrongs don't make a right. And, Yes, I have lost plenty of livestock to predators. I once chased a timberwolf up a mountainside for my favorite silkie cockerel. I just made a pen for the birds and got a bottle of lemonjuice handy for when I saw him again. I lost an entire flock of ducks to a raccoon and I went out and bought a havahart trap. Actually, havahart traps work really well for duckling-eating snapping turtles too. You just tie a mesh bag (available in the laundry section of the dollar tree) to the very back of the inside and submerge the trap (leaving enough above the water line for them to get some air once in awhile). There is always an alternative to killing and violence. You just have to find your inner Buddha.
I kill no snakes or spiders. I had a black widow in my window (hey, that could almost be a song) last summer and I relocated her and her egg sacs to the Croatan. If I find a moccasin, I just put a bucket over it and call animal control who calls the local venemous snake rehab guy to come and relocate it. I've seen snake bites, and they're horrible, but if I can relocate a snake, why take a life? The snake has to kill in order to live, I don't have to kill the snake in order to be rid of it. Two wrongs don't make a right. And, Yes, I have lost plenty of livestock to predators. I once chased a timberwolf up a mountainside for my favorite silkie cockerel. I just made a pen for the birds and got a bottle of lemonjuice handy for when I saw him again. I lost an entire flock of ducks to a raccoon and I went out and bought a havahart trap. Actually, havahart traps work really well for duckling-eating snapping turtles too. You just tie a mesh bag (available in the laundry section of the dollar tree) to the very back of the inside and submerge the trap (leaving enough above the water line for them to get some air once in awhile). There is always an alternative to killing and violence. You just have to find your inner Buddha.
