The Old Folks Home

[JW12]

Diva may have been talking about a 2 legged snake! I'm not sure lol

 

[Wisher1000]

Deer - Dear - Snake in the nest - Snake in the grass.......I'm so confused..........


<giggle>

 

[sourland]

Deer - Dear - Snake in the nest - Snake in the grass.......I'm so confused..........


<giggle>

Isn't there a saying, "A snake in the nest is worth two in the grass?"

 

[Bunnylady]

Well, I hauled the reptilian reprobate off about 10 miles away. When I put him out of the car, I told him, "buddy, this is your last chance. Don't come back."

And I thought the saying was, 'a watched snake won't uncoil.'

 

[Wisher1000]

Sour? Bunny? Are we lost?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

*Sigh*

You remember me joking about "no good deed goes unpunished?"

Well . . . .

Y'all remember the Rat Snake that I removed the golf balls from, right?

Yesterday morning, as I was on the back porch putting on my shoes, I heard loud cheeping coming from over near the workshop. Chick-in-distress type cheeping. I had a Serama pair in a rabbit hutch over there; the hen had been sitting on some eggs and had hatched 3 of them a few days earlier. I hurry over, and find not one but two of the chicks on the ground; somehow they had squeezed through the 1" x 2" wire. When I opened the hutch, I found the hen dead, the remaining chick nowhere to be seen, and 5 feet of Rat Snake curled up in the nest. I can't say to an absolute certainty that it was the same snake, but just how many 5 foot long Green Rat Snakes are we likely have around here?

That's gratitude for ya.

So now I have two orphaned chicks. I could have put them in the brooder, but I just gotten the last ones out about a week ago and I hadn't cleaned it up yet. Besides, they would still be traumatized and screaming, possibly for hours.

Possibility - I had another Serama hen that had gone broody. She'd been setting a long time, I was pretty sure the eggs were duds but hadn't gotten around to candling them yet. Maybe I could get her to take these two?

BB2K and I rounded up the remaining two cheepers, and we went to see the remaining broody. She growled and screamed at us, but we tucked the two chicks under her. BB2K stuck around to see how things went. She reported that the hen was growling, she just wasn't sure if it was at the chicks or her. When a chick popped its head out from under her wing and the hen gently pushed it back, it was clear - she was growling at BB2K. We gave her some space.

This morning, they were still tucked all snuggly in the nest. When I put some fresh food in with them, the hen started "cluck-clucking" and walked over to it, and the chicks came running.

*Whew*

That is horrible. How did the snake kill the hen?

Feeding him to chickens is excellent payback

Love the payback. I skin and grill the possums and coons that I catch and feed them back to chickens. Good cheap source of animal protein.

Here in Florida, we natives know not to kill a black snake, otherwise, the only good one is a dead one.

I haven't killed any snakes since I was a kid. Around here, they do much more good than harm. They are the native mouser and what a great job they do.

I do imagine they can get into a smaller hole than even a weasel or mink but I haven't had any chicken related problems from them - YET.
I wouldn't even mind losing some eggs to them. Chicks and a broody are a different story.

Thanks for your thoughtfulness, guys.

I've always found snakes fascinating; I only kill the venomous ones because I feel they are too risky a hazard to have around people. My kids are accustomed to seeing their parents bring wildlife into the house to share the "gee whiz" factor; frequently, it'll be some type of snake (Hubby brought a Copperhead in one time and I nearly killed them both!). I've found bits of snake skin in the workshop, and I've seen signs of rats in there; if it weren't for the chickens, I'd be cheering the snake on!

I figure the snake has a job to do around here; keeping my animals safe is my job. I hate it when they pay the price for my carelessness.

You reckon 10 miles away is far enough?

We used to kill venomous snakes in the yard but let others on the farm go. A neighbor of ours had a copperhead invasion for years. Every time he'd cut his grass, he would run over 3 or 4 of them. They're supposed to be the least venomous of USA snakes but I still wouldn't want to get bitten by one. Our farm had a lot of water moccasins and rattlesnakes but other than around the house, we let them be. Whenever I'd walk the woods, my collie/wolf hybrids were constant companions, clearing the way for me. They were bitten many times by poisonous snakes. Their heads and necks would really swell up but they'd always recover. The first time we took them to the vet but he told us that the bites wouldn't be fatal to them so we never took them again.
I've encountered hundreds of snakes in my life, at my house where I live now, at our farm growing up and working in Costa Rica. I've never been bitten. (they're just not that into you)
That said, it's known that the terciopelo (fer-de-lance) in Costa Rica is quite aggressive so I was always on the lookout for them. Being quite cranky, extremely poisonous, frequenting human habitat (including indoors) and standing their ground makes them the most dangerous snake in CR and the most common cause of snakebite in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico. In Venezuela, it's the cause of 3/4 of all venomous snakebites and all of the snakebite deaths.

 

[subhanalah]

Thanks for your thoughtfulness, guys.

I've always found snakes fascinating; I only kill the venomous ones because I feel they are too risky a hazard to have around people. My kids are accustomed to seeing their parents bring wildlife into the house to share the "gee whiz" factor; frequently, it'll be some type of snake (Hubby brought a Copperhead in one time and I nearly killed them both!). I've found bits of snake skin in the workshop, and I've seen signs of rats in there; if it weren't for the chickens, I'd be cheering the snake on! 

I figure the snake has a job to do around here; keeping my animals safe is my job. I hate it when they pay the price for my carelessness. 

You reckon 10 miles away is far enough?

Well, I hauled the reptilian reprobate off about 10 miles away. When I put him out of the car, I told him, "buddy, this is your last chance. Don't come back."

And I thought the saying was, 'a watched snake won't uncoil.'

now he will just starve to death or die of dehydration. You would have been better off killing it and ending its suffering right there

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Here in Florida, we natives know not to kill a black snake, otherwise, the only good one is a dead one.

It's a shame you have so many invasive species of snakes that people have released, especially the everglades.

Well, I hauled the reptilian reprobate off about 10 miles away. When I put him out of the car, I told him, "buddy, this is your last chance. Don't come back."

And I thought the saying was, 'a watched snake won't uncoil.'

Admirable restraint. Maybe you should have found a way to tag it so you would know if it was the same one.

now he will just starve to death or die of dehydration. You would have been better off killing it and ending its suffering right there

I don't think that snakes have as much trouble as mammalian predators at finding sustenance or competing for territory. They can go a long time without food (perhaps up to a year) and a few days without water. They are quite adept at finding water sources as well.
I think it will be fine. If it doesn't come back that is.

 

[sourland]

Sour? Bunny? Are we lost?

Lost? Lost indeed!

 

[ozexpat]

now he will just starve to death or die of dehydration. You would have been better off killing it and ending its suffering right there

If the snake found a coop in his territory, it will find food elsewhere. Its also got plenty of time to find an appropriate hibernation area.

Giving it a chance is better than lopping its head off.