I was just out to check up on the birds and there were two raising a ruckus. They were standing away from the coop and looking towards it and cluckking up a
storm. I looked around and saw the tail of a snake that was going under the coop. I seemed to be a bit stuck in the plastic netting surrounding the bottom of
the coop I only say about 8 inches of the thing but it was not completely black. There was another color as well. I ran to get the square tip shovel and a bag
blabbering to myself and wondering how hard I had to push down on the muddy ground and still not cut the tail off. It must be at least 2 inches in diameter to
get slowed down in the netting. Will a snake take my adult Silkies? It is strange, I have not seen any sign of mice this year. Do you guys think he has been
living under the coop and keeping the mice population down? I am just so freaked out about snakes and I know DH will not help me remove it. I am not sure there
is anything I can do if it stays under the coop. Crud!!!Crud Curd!!!! I am not even sure I could pick it up if I got it stopped. It is very wet right now after
the 7 inches of rain we received compliments of Faye. Does damp ground make the move around and change their habits? YUK!
0 Kudo
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OH No a snake! UPDATE HELP!
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 jimnjay |
OH No a snake! UPDATE HELP! |
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Posts: 5260 08/27/08 11:07 AM |
Last Edited By: jimnjay 09/29/08 05:24 AM.
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robin416 |
#1 | |||
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Posts: 3717 08/29/08 05:17 AM |
Jaynie, I can see you cringing now. Here's what I recommend but you've got to be tough to go through with it. Put a pair of work gloves on, grab the
snake towards the back of the tail (the last three or four inches). Have a trash can ready with a lid. Pull it out, drop in the can and take it across the
road.
The wet will cause them to move, especially if their burrow was flooded. Depending on the type it could kill an adult bird, one killed two of my Dutch girls this year. It took three of the chicks. I saw it go under my coop a couple of weeks ago but I was feeding mice under there at the time. I think it might have snacked on the wrong mouse because I haven't seen it since then. And yes, black snakes keep the mice population in check. Unfortunately when they run out of mice they start in on our eggs and birds. |
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jimnjay |
#2 | |||
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Posts: 5262 08/29/08 08:44 AM |
Robin, That is what I was afraid of. I will get a bucket with lid ready and have it out there in case I find it again. I have seen no more signs of the beast
but I feel sure the mouse population is down due to him. I have babies due in a few days so I need to try to do something the minute I hear the chickens
raising a ruckus again. I am not surprised if the burrow was flooded we had 7 inches in 36 hours so it was very soggy here and water was standing in one of
the pens. Not the one where I saw the snake, however. I think I will take it farther away then across the street if I can get it. I have mixed feeling about
the snake or mice. I absolutely hate them both. With the snake what you don't see does not bother so much. Gosh, between the standards being whiney
poop machines and snakes and babies with curled toes, I don't know why I am doing this.
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robin416 |
#3 | |||
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Posts: 3718 08/29/08 09:27 AM |
If she won't tear you up too much, move Mom and peeps to a more secure area if you think the snake can get in the coop. I started doing that since the one
snake showed up under the coop.
Bob actually made me a cage to go over the broody hen and her nest out of aluminium screening so that the snake couldn't get at her or her eggs. |
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ansearcher |
#4 | |||
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Posts: 7 09/11/08 10:18 AM |
I found a snake over six feet long and bigger around than my arm a few weeks ago in my pen in the process of eating an egg. I knew it was a black rat snake,
not poisonous. I got a hoe and held it's head down with it. Hubby did not want to get near it, so I had him hold the hoe while I put the back end of it
in a kitchen trash can with a lid. Then he let go of the head and I tipped the can up and put the lid on quickly. We took it a few miles away because I read
that they will come back if you don't take them far enough away. I knew it was a 'good' snake, so I didn't want to kill it. It was huge!! He
never even tried to strike at me he was so docile. Hubby says the only good snake is a dead snake. They may not hurt you, but they'll make you hurt
yourself! BTW, some people say if you see one, there are more, but I haven't seen another one. I also have never seen a rat, mouse, or any evidence of
one!! Gee, I wonder why??? I make sure to bring the eggs in every day so they don't learn that there is food available.
Good luck! |
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robin416 |
#5 | |||
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Posts: 3768 09/11/08 11:25 AM |
I saw another smaller black snake this week about 30 feet from the Dutch coop. I'm not too stressed over it yet because of its size but it needs to stay
away from the coop or there will be a problem.
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jimnjay |
#6 | |||
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Posts: 5312 09/29/08 05:24 AM |
Here I am one month later and the Snake, a 4+foot King Snake was in my coop yesterday. Neither myself, my husband nor our neighbor had the guts to touch it.
He was on the wall and any one of us could have grabbed it just behind the head but we were all to scared of the thing. I had a Pillow case ready and hubby
had on gloves but he would not touch it. I can't blame him I could not do it either. I was hoping Todd would come on here and tell me how he got that
GhettoJap killer.
Is there any way to trap a snake ?. I need to lure it our from under the building where it hangs out. I don't want to kill it because they do a great job with nasty rodents. I just want to relocate it far away from here. I feel sure he was in the coop for eggs and I have a little Sizzle girl setting on eggs in there. There is no way I could shoot it anyway, the girls are in there and it is a small place.
Last Edited By: jimnjay 09/29/08 05:34 AM.
Edited 1 time.
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CezannesGarden |
Finally in the country... | #7 | ||
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Posts: 834 03/08/09 11:52 AM |
I'm finally in the country & have received my baby chicks. Snakes are the biggest fear I have, even garden snakes. Now being out in the country I know
there is the opportunity to find many other larger kinds. I'm going to try & be very careful how I predator proof the coop so I don't have any in
there. I wish there was a way to make them not want to come around!
Jana
BLUE BARN FARM |
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- General Discussion
- The Social Side
- Poultry show and swap meet listings
- From Egg to Hatch
- Raising Baby Chicks
- Emergencies!
- Coops and Runs
- Feeding Time
- Predators and Pests
- Diseases and Cures
- Chicken Behaviors
- Buy ~ Sell ~ Trade ~ Giveaways
- Other Poultry
- Meat Birds ETC
- reference material, med and disease info
- Breeds in General
- What Breed Or Gender is This?
- Breeders & Backyard Hatcheries
- Where am I? Where are you!
- BYC Website/Forum/Chatroom
- Rabbits and Cavies
- Egg & Chicken Recipes
- Games!
- Notable Archives
- Chickenstock 2008
