Texas

[RachaelS]

Looking for member that live around the Abilene Texas area. I am getting out of breeding chickens and have some really nice stock that need to go to serious breeders.

Hey there!

To others I can say that Jungleexplorer has excellent birds and takes VERY good care of them. Plus his picture taken abilities are phenomenal

. If anyone decides to take I35 past Austin to get some of his birds, I would be willing to talk about helping out with gas, to pick me up a few Cubalaya's. Just a thought that I am throwing out, with school just starting I simply can't drive that far.

 

[back2simplelife]

Anyone good at telling a cottonmount and a black rat apart? 99% sure its a rat but I have never seen a cottonmouth so I dunno!

 

[back2simplelife]

Anyone good at telling a cottonmount and a black rat apart? 99% sure its a rat but I have never seen a cottonmouth so I dunno!

Ok.. pretty sure it's a black rat (now I know why the chickens we look after have only gotten 1/2 the eggs they were this week!) Yuck, Yuck, Yuck.. These thick black rat snakes are hard to tell! Hubby rather did a number on his head so I couldn't tell!

 

[TammyTX]

I usually associate Cotton Mouths with water...if it was in the coop then I would also bet Rat/Chicken snake. Hate 'em. They are non-venomous, but can be aggressive.

We used to let every Chicken Snake go because they eat rats/mice. Well, it occurred to me that if they are in the coop eating my eggs everyday, killing my hens every once in a while, then they are NOT eating rats!! So, we dispatch them to snake heaven, glad that your hub's was able to do the same.

There are other snakes that eat rats that have not been in my coop, namely the Yellow Belly Racer. I see them, they mind their business and stay out of the coop.

Has anyone had a Yellow Belly in their coop?

I posted last week that we killed our first baby Rattlesnake. It must be birthing season.

 

[back2simplelife]

I usually associate Cotton Mouths with water...if it was in the coop then I would also bet Rat/Chicken snake. Hate 'em. They are non-venomous, but can be aggressive.

We used to let every Chicken Snake go because they eat rats/mice. Well, it occurred to me that if they are in the coop eating my eggs everyday, killing my hens every once in a while, then they are NOT eating rats!! So, we dispatch them to snake heaven, glad that your hub's was able to do the same.

There are other snakes that eat rats that have not been in my coop, namely the Yellow Belly Racer. I see them, they mind their business and stay out of the coop.

Has anyone had a Yellow Belly in their coop?

I posted last week that we killed our first baby Rattlesnake. It must be birthing season.

We have a huge lake and a couple small ponds on the property, with one not being too far from the house so I wasn't sure. No, he wasn't in the coop.. along the side of the shed that is connected to the coop for the flock I watch over though! So right between his chickens and mine really! I have noticed I am not collecting too many eggs over there, although mine seem normal. This is the second black one we have had but the first one well lets just say my dog got him and there wasn't much left to know for sure either! They are so unlike the normal rats that are thin.. these things are thick and wide! Totally confusing! It was about 5 foot and not sure how big around but like 2 rats!
And I am SO with ya on sending them to snake heaven.. I know they are suppose to keep the rodents down that bring in the copperheads but after seeing (after) a rat try to swallow a pullet almost at POL then spit her out.. I think differently about them! That mixed with we have a TON of frogs, geckos and lizards.. (haven't seen a mouse or rat anywhere near the house though and we are constantly looking) that keep them coming in.. anything right here is GONE.. they have 75 acres to be safe in.. this right here is off limits! So far in 4 months we have had 26 rats and 4 copperheads (saw 4 only got 2 so maybe they were the same 2.. not sure) and have been very lucky to see nothing else other than a normal water snake! NO copperheads in the coops so that is the only other snake I have experience from.. no idea about the yellow belly!
I am not sure but thought birthing was in the spring, then they hibernate like in oct.. I could be wrong though! Glad ya got the rattler! THOSE I am use to... the rest of these.. well, learning something new each day!

 

[wlhtx]

We have a huge lake and a couple small ponds on the property, with one not being too far from the house so I wasn't sure. No, he wasn't in the coop.. along the side of the shed that is connected to the coop for the flock I watch over though! So right between his chickens and mine really! I have noticed I am not collecting too many eggs over there, although mine seem normal. This is the second black one we have had but the first one well lets just say my dog got him and there wasn't much left to know for sure either! They are so unlike the normal rats that are thin.. these things are thick and wide! Totally confusing! It was about 5 foot and not sure how big around but like 2 rats!
And I am SO with ya on sending them to snake heaven.. I know they are suppose to keep the rodents down that bring in the copperheads but after seeing (after) a rat try to swallow a pullet almost at POL then spit her out.. I think differently about them! That mixed with we have a TON of frogs, geckos and lizards.. (haven't seen a mouse or rat anywhere near the house though and we are constantly looking) that keep them coming in.. anything right here is GONE.. they have 75 acres to be safe in.. this right here is off limits! So far in 4 months we have had 26 rats and 4 copperheads (saw 4 only got 2 so maybe they were the same 2.. not sure) and have been very lucky to see nothing else other than a normal water snake! NO copperheads in the coops so that is the only other snake I have experience from.. no idea about the yellow belly!
I am not sure but thought birthing was in the spring, then they hibernate like in oct.. I could be wrong though! Glad ya got the rattler! THOSE I am use to... the rest of these.. well, learning something new each day!

Your property sounds a lot like ours. We also have a large lake and a few smaller ponds, and our house is only about 75 ft from one of them. We are constantly on snake alert, especially for water moccasins. Last year (right after we built our house) we probably killed 30+, mostly swimming in the pond but a couple up on my back porch and by the front door. This year has thankfully been SO much better. We've maybe killed 4 moccasins (goats actually killed one of them for us!), and 1 chicken snake. My in-laws live just a couple pastures over and they've had a couple copperheads, but haven't seen any of those around our house so far. With 2 little kids running around the yard all day, we also kill any that decide to come too close to the house. Like your place, they have tons of other acreage around here to stay in - but as soon as they get too close to us, they're killed without remorse. My husband was bitten by a copperhead as a toddler. He was allergic to the anti-venom and nearly died. I have zero intention of learning whether or not my kids inherited that allergy.

 

[back2simplelife]

Your property sounds a lot like ours. We also have a large lake and a few smaller ponds, and our house is only about 75 ft from one of them. We are constantly on snake alert, especially for water moccasins. Last year (right after we built our house) we probably killed 30+, mostly swimming in the pond but a couple up on my back porch and by the front door. This year has thankfully been SO much better. We've maybe killed 4 moccasins (goats actually killed one of them for us!), and 1 chicken snake. My in-laws live just a couple pastures over and they've had a couple copperheads, but haven't seen any of those around our house so far. With 2 little kids running around the yard all day, we also kill any that decide to come too close to the house. Like your place, they have tons of other acreage around here to stay in - but as soon as they get too close to us, they're killed without remorse. My husband was bitten by a copperhead as a toddler. He was allergic to the anti-venom and nearly died. I have zero intention of learning whether or not my kids inherited that allergy.

Oh my!!! Yours is closer than ours (I can't do distance so will ask hubby.. lol) and we've only had two black ones that personally I have questioned.. hubby thinks they are black rats but I dunno honestly! I have only seen WM IN water and never up close and personal so I have no idea! With a black head and black eyes I couldn't see the eyes at all! It's head shape looked non-ven but hard to tell for sure with the shape it was in! And totally agree! With 2 lil kids here too.. gotta go! 3 of the 4 copperheads have been in the yard! Luckily we do nightly searches for them so they don't stay long. And so far we have been lucky to only see them at night when the boys are asleep. I can not imagine living with the fear of being allergic to anti-venom! Especially from a copperhead since they are different from the others! BIG HUGS!!!

 

[TammyTX]

...hmmmm. When you said THICK black snakes I thought Water Moccasin.

I found this site and thought it was pretty good:

http://phillbert.hubpages.com/hub/F...ntifying-Venomous-Snakes-in-the-United-States

 

[wlhtx]

The funny (*said sarcastically*) thing about it is that my husband now has NO fear of snakes. The man is a total weirdo and owned a python for a short while in college (before I met him, thank goodness). I'm the one with the massive phobia and so I rely on him completely for getting rid of them. We usually do a daily drive around the pond on our 4 wheeler to make sure we don't see anything.

By far, the worst moment for me was when we first got our chickens. A friend gave us a mature flock of laying hens and a rooster, and when we first got them we housed them in an over-sized wooden dog house that my husband had built. It was a little off the ground, but not much. It was summer and we had cut a large "window" in the side for ventilation and egg collection purposes. But the crazy chickens always seemed to lay in the other corner, so I would have to stick my head inside the window and reach over for the eggs. Well, one day I stuck my head on in there and, wouldn't you know it, there was a 6 ft long chicken snake coiled up in the corner closest to the window. Even had a Delaware hen standing on top of it unglazed (she was a weird duck). Nearly had a heart attack and I'm pretty sure I've never moved so fast in my life. Needless to say, we re-did the coop not long after that.

 

[Italia]

The funny (*said sarcastically*) thing about it is that my husband now has NO fear of snakes. The man is a total weirdo and owned a python for a short while in college (before I met him, thank goodness). I'm the one with the massive phobia and so I rely on him completely for getting rid of them. We usually do a daily drive around the pond on our 4 wheeler to make sure we don't see anything.

By far, the worst moment for me was when we first got our chickens. A friend gave us a mature flock of laying hens and a rooster, and when we first got them we housed them in an over-sized wooden dog house that my husband had built. It was a little off the ground, but not much. It was summer and we had cut a large "window" in the side for ventilation and egg collection purposes. But the crazy chickens always seemed to lay in the other corner, so I would have to stick my head inside the window and reach over for the eggs. Well, one day I stuck my head on in there and, wouldn't you know it, there was a 6 ft long chicken snake coiled up in the corner closest to the window. Even had a Delaware hen standing on top of it unglazed (she was a weird duck). Nearly had a heart attack and I'm pretty sure I've never moved so fast in my life. Needless to say, we re-did the coop not long after that.

I know it was not funny at the time but it makes for a good story now. I had to laugh because it reminded me of something that happened to me a few years ago. Actually my story is completely different but I imagine our fast response was similar.

We had a huge twelve foot tall burm of cedars that we had cleared and were waiting for a rain so that we could burn. I was pulling some branches out to use for a project. All of the sudden after tugging on a limb, I heard a load hissing noise. Rattler, yikes I thought. I back peddled so fast that I tripped over the branches I had already pulled out. I landed on my butt so hard it knocked lightening into my eyes. I get back up as fast as I could. By then the hissing was becoming less loud. So I run over to the shed and get a hoe and run back up to the pile. I'm very carefully coming around the side ready to strike and their it is. I big, no wait huge, Wait for it.............. can of spray paint.

I was so glad no one was there to see it all go down the way it did. I had a sore bum for days!