I was outside with the horse trainer yesterday afternoon and saw my broody silkie go running out of the barn, squawking like crazy...so I went in and decided to see what was wrong. The rooster was with her, acting protective, not trying to breed her, and the geese weren't near her, so there shouldn't have been anything to upset her. Then, I thought, well, maybe her eggs hatched and a baby chick freaked her out?
So, I have to climb up on a feed barrel, then climb up on a large ice chest on top of the barrel to get to her eggs. She laid them in the top floor of the barn!
As I climb up there, I come eyeball to eyeball with a H-U-G-E snake! I overcome my initial reaction to scream and fall backwards, stay calm, and try and figure out if it's poisonous, or not, because I am about 4 inches away from its mouth! Well within striking distance!
But, as my rational brain took over, I realized that, first of all, it's black. Unless a cottonmouth decided to leave the huge deep creek full of fish, turtles, and frogs to climb all the way up here to eat chicken eggs, I'm probably ok! LOL! No other large black poisonous snakes around.
My next thought was, is it aggressive? He barely noticed me and went back to eating the eggs, so I figured he wasn't. But, when I grabbed him around the back of the head, he wrapped the rest of his body up in the rafters and it took me a while to get him out, without losing my balance.
Once I got him down, I realized how freaking big he was! Well over 6 feet! Then, I had to decide what to do with him. I didn't want to keep him, because we didn't have a tank big enough. I had decided I was going to drive several miles down the road and "rehome" him in a cattle pasture. I hated to do it, because I knew something would probably kill him, and who knows how old he was. The trainer saw me some out with him and asked if he was still alive, and I told her yes. Then she asked if she could have it. We got to talking, and they've had boas, corn snakes, garters, and lots of other reptiles before, and didn't have any at the moment, so I thought it would be a good safe home for him.
He was really docile, maybe because he had just eaten about a dozen almost hatched eggs??? But he didn't seem too upset. I know a lot of people won't understand not killing the snake, but an animal that size, you just have to respect it.
He was beautiful and I'm glad he was in my barn, rather than any of the neighbors! It would have been a shame for someone to kill him.
Just thought I would share. Sorry the pic is blurry, my DD took it and she is terrified of snakes!
I wasn't able to measure him, but would definitely like to! He is a black rat snake. One of the prettiest ones I've seen! I can't wait to see him after he sheds. He has a red and white pattern mixed in with the black. Absolutely gorgeous! You can see the lumps from the eggs in there. I am 5'8" and he was several inches taller than me when I held him out.
Shelly
As I climb up there, I come eyeball to eyeball with a H-U-G-E snake! I overcome my initial reaction to scream and fall backwards, stay calm, and try and figure out if it's poisonous, or not, because I am about 4 inches away from its mouth! Well within striking distance!
My next thought was, is it aggressive? He barely noticed me and went back to eating the eggs, so I figured he wasn't. But, when I grabbed him around the back of the head, he wrapped the rest of his body up in the rafters and it took me a while to get him out, without losing my balance.
Once I got him down, I realized how freaking big he was! Well over 6 feet! Then, I had to decide what to do with him. I didn't want to keep him, because we didn't have a tank big enough. I had decided I was going to drive several miles down the road and "rehome" him in a cattle pasture. I hated to do it, because I knew something would probably kill him, and who knows how old he was. The trainer saw me some out with him and asked if he was still alive, and I told her yes. Then she asked if she could have it. We got to talking, and they've had boas, corn snakes, garters, and lots of other reptiles before, and didn't have any at the moment, so I thought it would be a good safe home for him.
He was really docile, maybe because he had just eaten about a dozen almost hatched eggs??? But he didn't seem too upset. I know a lot of people won't understand not killing the snake, but an animal that size, you just have to respect it.
Just thought I would share. Sorry the pic is blurry, my DD took it and she is terrified of snakes!
I wasn't able to measure him, but would definitely like to! He is a black rat snake. One of the prettiest ones I've seen! I can't wait to see him after he sheds. He has a red and white pattern mixed in with the black. Absolutely gorgeous! You can see the lumps from the eggs in there. I am 5'8" and he was several inches taller than me when I held him out.
Shelly
