Unwanted coop resident

[bbRedMom]

I think I found what was eating my chickens...He was living above the roost in a hidey hole I didn't know existed. He got lazy and was drifting his head down-thats when I snatched him!

 

[Curlita]

Ugh! Do you know what kind of snake it is?

And, I'm happy to see that someone besides me employs an umbrella as part of their chicken tending tool set. Mine is particularly handy for herding them back into the run when they don't want to go. I guess there is something menacing about an opening-and-closing umbrella.

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

You are way braver than me. That is for sure.

 

[LynneP]

Rat snake? Nice catch!

 

[halo]

OMG, brave girl you are!

 

[Sparrow]

He is/was a beauty! Good sized snake, but he would only be capable of eating very small standard chickens, or certainly bantam breeds. What kinds of chickens have gone missing?

 

[lleighmay]

It's a black rat snake (commonly just called a black snake)- could eat small chicks and does eat mice and rats but they're never going to be big enough to eat a larger chicken. However, they will eat eggs. I actually bring "strays" home from unsafe places and turn them loose on my property; if I find one interested in the chickens I'll just relocate it to my parents' farm down the road. IMHO the benefits of this snake far outweigh the threat (at least at my house).

 

[FarmGirl01]

Good job at catching the snake. We alwys try to relocate them. I hate to kill them.

 

[Chickaroo!]

You are the bravest woman I know!!! I would have screamed my head off and cried like a baby.

 

[Alaskan]

I second the "I don't think he is big enough to eat a full grown chicken"

He looks eggs and baby chick sized.

Sure is beautiful!