- Thread starter
- #61
MegsEggsx
Songster
Well. I've had an interesting 2 days! Where I live the biggest predator of chickens are snakes, in my suburb specifically pythons. Locals are always saying how they would love to keep chickens but they don't want to attract snakes, which is fair enough. Previous to chickens, in the 7 years I had been living in my house I had probably seen about 12 snakes in my property, mainly small ones less than 1 meter and the occasional scrub python (amethystine python) which average about 6 meters when fully grown. I am not scared of snakes in fact if I didn't have chickens and cats etc, I would love to have a pet snake but they do always give me a fright when I see them initially.
We specifically had made our chicken coop to be snake proof and I do regular checks to ensure my flock's safety. Since having chickens (almost a year) we have had 3, 3-4.5 meter amethystine pythons, all sitting on top of the coop like a child sitting outside an oven waiting for a cake to finish baking. The first time we called the snake catcher guy to come and remove it (who said that our coop was one of the safest he had seen (which I was very pleased about)), the second time my dad convinced us he had learnt the snake catcher's technique and he somehow managed to get it into a bag and we went for a drive at 9:00 at night to release it far far away from our house.
And the third time was this time:
It started yesterday when my sister forgot to put the flock away at the time we normally do, I was stressing a lot because I know that snakes will get to them if the coop is open at night. The coop did end up being shut before dark thank goodness, but she told me that Cupcake was up on the adult roost so we both went down (it was very dark) so I could see her. When we got inside the coop we both got a weird feeling and then about 20 seconds later we heard a rustle from the top of the coop I shut the door as a precaution. As we were walking back I turned around and shon my torch onto the top of the coop and there it was a snake. I ran back to get dad but by the time we got back the snake had disappeared. The next day my flock was not allowed to free range and I hoped that the snake would come back again that night so we could catch it and relocate it. And as predicted it came back, it sat behind the coop wrapped around a tree staring at the Silkies as they slept. On the first attempt the second my dad touch it with his stick it slithered off. We all thought it was done for the night and we would have to try again the next day. But about 30 minutes later my dad walks into the house with a heschen sack with the snake in it, sweating so much. We all look at him so surprised and he retells the story. I didn’t even realise he was gone until he came back! So he went for a little drive and released him.
We specifically had made our chicken coop to be snake proof and I do regular checks to ensure my flock's safety. Since having chickens (almost a year) we have had 3, 3-4.5 meter amethystine pythons, all sitting on top of the coop like a child sitting outside an oven waiting for a cake to finish baking. The first time we called the snake catcher guy to come and remove it (who said that our coop was one of the safest he had seen (which I was very pleased about)), the second time my dad convinced us he had learnt the snake catcher's technique and he somehow managed to get it into a bag and we went for a drive at 9:00 at night to release it far far away from our house.
And the third time was this time:
It started yesterday when my sister forgot to put the flock away at the time we normally do, I was stressing a lot because I know that snakes will get to them if the coop is open at night. The coop did end up being shut before dark thank goodness, but she told me that Cupcake was up on the adult roost so we both went down (it was very dark) so I could see her. When we got inside the coop we both got a weird feeling and then about 20 seconds later we heard a rustle from the top of the coop I shut the door as a precaution. As we were walking back I turned around and shon my torch onto the top of the coop and there it was a snake. I ran back to get dad but by the time we got back the snake had disappeared. The next day my flock was not allowed to free range and I hoped that the snake would come back again that night so we could catch it and relocate it. And as predicted it came back, it sat behind the coop wrapped around a tree staring at the Silkies as they slept. On the first attempt the second my dad touch it with his stick it slithered off. We all thought it was done for the night and we would have to try again the next day. But about 30 minutes later my dad walks into the house with a heschen sack with the snake in it, sweating so much. We all look at him so surprised and he retells the story. I didn’t even realise he was gone until he came back! So he went for a little drive and released him.
! My dog did not look impressed, but did not try to get her out just sat down outside and fell asleep.
