Snake Got 2 Of Our Peeps

[Meerkat]

I already put this is the Rant thread.

We had half inch chicken wire around it and how that huge snake got through that don't know.
So next trip will get smaller sized wire.
Hubby was rally upset the 13 day old reds were his favorite. 2 Barred Rocks are ok although I had to hold them up against me to calm them down while he moved cage into house.
They were in brooder 6 feet from our porch we spend time on. Hubby heard them cackling and ran up and snatched the snake by tail and threw it across yard.

 

[Sonya_6]

Sort of OT...but not really. Here is a video of a Pentacostal Church Service featuring Timber Rattlers in Appalachia. The snakes have to be pretty darn tolerant to put up with all that jerking and flailing, hope the animals are treated well overall (then again if they weren't...well...they could certainly even the score).

 

[Meerkat]

Sort of OT...but not really. Here is a video of a Pentacostal Church Service featuring Timber Rattlers in Appalachia.

I saw that but I draw the line when it comes to tempting rattlers. Whatever tunes them in and turns them on is ok with me though.
Guess my faith ain't that strong. Except I do have faith in the snake possibly striking me.

I'm with Ray Stevens wife on this one.

 

[Peanut]

sorry you lost some peeps!

 

[Sonya_6]

I saw that but I draw the line when it comes to tempting rattlers. Whatever tunes them in and turns them on is ok with me though.
Guess my faith ain't that strong. Except I do have faith in the snake possibly striking me.

I'm with Ray Stevens wife on this one.

Yeah after seeing photos of venomous snake bites I do NOT want to end up in a scuffle with a rattler. On the other hand I do feel sorry for the animals, they rattle to AVOID conflict, and avoid having to harm others, yet because of that humans wipe them out with impunity.

I have heard in some areas they are being born without rattles now since natural selection is taking place and humans are killing the ones that do rattle.

There are a few in my area, if I see one on the dirt road I will stop the car and wait until it is safely off the road just to prevent another driver from coming up and intentionally killing the animal on sight. People around here do that (they don't even live near hear) and it peeves me off big time.

 

[Sonya_6]

Meerkat so what is your plan regarding the brooder? If you only have a couple of chicks it won't be too bad to keep them in the house for a little while. But sadly, getting more chicks will be trickier with the age difference.

Speak of the devil, after saying I was keeping an eye out for the coop ratsnakes the larger one appeared this afternoon, scared the older broody off her nest and ate her (dud) egg. Then two hours later did the same thing to the other broody. Sigh.

These snakes are probably ravenous having just come out of hibernation. I wish the snake would eat some of the very fat little coop rats, but I guess eggs are even easier to catch. One nice thing about the rattler is he only eats rats and leaves the birds/eggs alone.

I took a short video after finding the snake the first time.

 

[GrannyG]

We had a huge snake eat the entire banty hen as she was setting......really upsetting...hubby tried to kill it....managed to beat on it with a shovel but it got away...have not seen it since so maybe he managed to do away with it....how that snake got that whole chicken in its mouth is something else....

 

[Meerkat]

It is amazing what a snake can swallow.

 

[Country Living]

Chicken wire is just to keep the chickens in - it doesn't do much about keeping things out that want in. Lots of critters can chew through it and, as you found out, snakes can slither through it. You can't eliminated the predators; however, you can mitigate loss.

We have 1/4" hardware cloth around the coop and also around the pen. We buried wire perpendicular to the hardware cloth so nothing could dig under the coop or the pen. The coop is fully enclosed in hardware cloth and it's a virtual Fort Knox when we lock the door.

We have the 4' hardware cloth (the widest we could get) around the pen with 4' chicken wire on top of it to make an 8' fence (the local Tractor Supply had 10' T-Posts someone ordered and didn't want and they were cheap so we loaded up on them) . We used bailing twine to sew the two sections together so nothing could climb between them. Then, because we have a chicken hawk problem, we put netting over the entire pen.

That doesn't mean we're snake-free. They can still find ways to get into the pen and we keep the coop door open during the day. We keep a snake grabber in the pen and also on the front porch. And a shotgun by the front door of the house.

I shut my birds up in the coop every night and one evening about dusk the Guineas wouldn't go to roost. They kept walking around the front of the coop making their little whistling noises (I have a baby monitor in the coop). I walked out to the coop and my nervous darlings were gathered by the door. The hens were on roost. I saw the rat snake on the floor by the back of the coop. I grabbed my snake grabber, got the snake, walked by the house to get the shotgun, and the Guineas were sound asleep on their roost by the time I put the snake grabber back in the coop.

Snakes can be anywhere they want on the ranch with the exception of being within 10 yards of the coop. I don't care of they're in the barn or even in the garage because they help control the field mice. I don't even care if they're on the front porch (not completely true - I care if they're venomous and I'll tote them down to the lake with the snake grabber.....) Just stay away from my birds!

 

[Meerkat]

Chicken wire is just to keep the chickens in - it doesn't do much about keeping things out that want in. Lots of critters can chew through it and, as you found out, snakes can slither through it. You can't eliminated the predators; however, you can mitigate loss.

We have 1/4" hardware cloth around the coop and also around the pen. We buried wire perpendicular to the hardware cloth so nothing could dig under the coop or the pen. The coop is fully enclosed in hardware cloth and it's a virtual Fort Knox when we lock the door.

We have the 4' hardware cloth (the widest we could get) around the pen with 4' chicken wire on top of it to make an 8' fence (the local Tractor Supply had 10' T-Posts someone ordered and didn't want and they were cheap so we loaded up on them) . We used bailing twine to sew the two sections together so nothing could climb between them. Then, because we have a chicken hawk problem, we put netting over the entire pen.

That doesn't mean we're snake-free. They can still find ways to get into the pen and we keep the coop door open during the day. We keep a snake grabber in the pen and also on the front porch. And a shotgun by the front door of the house.

I shut my birds up in the coop every night and one evening about dusk the Guineas wouldn't go to roost. They kept walking around the front of the coop making their little whistling noises (I have a baby monitor in the coop). I walked out to the coop and my nervous darlings were gathered by the door. The hens were on roost. I saw the rat snake on the floor by the back of the coop. I grabbed my snake grabber, got the snake, walked by the house to get the shotgun, and the Guineas were sound asleep on their roost by the time I put the snake grabber back in the coop.

Snakes can be anywhere they want on the ranch with the exception of being within 10 yards of the coop. I don't care of they're in the barn or even in the garage because they help control the field mice. I don't even care if they're on the front porch (not completely true - I care if they're venomous and I'll tote them down to the lake with the snake grabber.....) Just stay away from my birds!

After the last couple weeks of lots of work a 400 pound bear won't touch these chics! .

The pen already had welded wire, 1" chicken wire, cattle fencing 2' up and 2' laid on ground to stop large prey from digging under.
This week we put 4' X 200 ' of 3/4 mesh netting all around and on the floor of teh pen.
Then I must have put a couple hundred shovels of dirt on top of floor netting.
Anythign that gets them will work for it thru 4 layers of fence and netting. Also had to repair all the damage done since we had chickens from past few years of hurricanes.
i hate working with fencing and mesh will cut the heck out of you too plus all the reaching up to ceiling really hurts my neck that I rearranged at 15 when car went total airborne over ' Thrill hill and landed half a block into a yard. We were into fast cars and drag racing back in the early 60s . That boy must have been doign 80 MPH or more.

 

[The Lazy L]

1/2" hardware cloth on the top, sides and flared out around the base.

 

[Meerkat]

1/2" hardware cloth on the top, sides and flared out around the base.

View attachment 6551

Very nice ! But ours is too big for hardware clothe. Plus it has a metal roof over it but thanks for idea we will add H-clothe to brooder before we use that again, only the floor is HC now.

 

[NannyPatty]

I about had an MI today when I was checking for eggs and put my hand on a snake! Thankfully,it was a chicken snake and didn’t strike or I would have hurt myself. I almost did anyway. I managed to severe it’s head (sorry snake enthusiasts) snakes area no go here! I’m going to have to check on netting, I guess.

 

[TMT Tactical]

I about had an MI today when I was checking for eggs and put my hand on a snake! Thankfully,it was a chicken snake and didn’t strike or I would have hurt myself. I almost did anyway. I managed to severe it’s head (sorry snake enthusiasts) snakes area no go here! I’m going to have to check on netting, I guess.

I have to agree, snakes are a no go for me too. they stay in their space, no problem, they crawl into my space, they become feed for other critters.

 

[tiffanysgallery]

Take a look at the enormous timber rattlesnake found in Cheatham County Tennessee...
It measured 6 1/2 feet long. (I've had them in my front yard, but not this long)
In Tennessee, it's illegal to harm or remove them from the wild without the proper permits, unless the snake is a threat to you, your family or your animals.
They live all over TN, active from mid-March to mid-October, and will eat small animals like rodents, and sadly Meerkat's peeps

 

[Meerkat]

Take a look at the enormous timber rattlesnake found in Cheatham County Tennessee...
It measured 6 1/2 feet long. (I've had them in my front yard, but not this long)
In Tennessee, it's illegal to harm or remove them from the wild without the proper permits, unless the snake is a threat to you, your family or your animals.
They live all over TN, active from mid-March to mid-October, and will eat small animals like rodents, and sadly Meerkat's peeps
View attachment 7017

That would eat a whole hen.. I just came back in from playing with Lucy the pullet who witnessed the two gettign ate and killed. Then her friend the other BRock was found dead the next week and we still don't know what got her I think it may have been a snake but now pen is snake proof.

Lucy thinks she is a parrot, and tries to jump up on my shoulder. Today I just petted her on the back and she laid down and relaxed. She is gettign too big to run around on me now.The others just watched us and kept their distance.

 

[Weedygarden]

Take a look at the enormous timber rattlesnake found in Cheatham County Tennessee...
It measured 6 1/2 feet long. (I've had them in my front yard, but not this long)
In Tennessee, it's illegal to harm or remove them from the wild without the proper permits, unless the snake is a threat to you, your family or your animals.
They live all over TN, active from mid-March to mid-October, and will eat small animals like rodents, and sadly Meerkat's peeps
View attachment 7017

I have no idea who wrote and created that law, but that is absolutely crazy! If I lived in Tennessee, and I found a rattler, it would die, permit or not. If I didn't have a permit, I would dig a hole, bury it, and not tell a soul about it.
In places like South Dakota and Nebraska, they have rattle snake hunts. There is one county in Nebraska where people were being killed by them--men, women, children, as well as dogs, horses, cattle, and they went on a mission to eradicate their county of them. A Saturday spent hunting with a group of people can take out a couple hundred of them. Do that a few times a year and everyone and every animal is much safer.

 

[tiffanysgallery]

I have no idea who wrote and created that law, but that is absolutely crazy! If I lived in Tennessee, and I found a rattler, it would die, permit or not. If I didn't have a permit, I would dig a hole, bury it, and not tell a soul about it.

agree and agree.

The article mentions the homeowner first, he called the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, who told him it was OK to kill the snake.
Okay, that won't be my first reaction, lol.

http://www.wkrn.com/news/huge-rattlesnake-found-in-backyard-of-cheatham-county-home/1

 

[tiffanysgallery]

http://www.wkrn.com/news/huge-rattlesnake-found-in-backyard-of-cheatham-county-home/1

@havasu i posted a link to mentioned article, but it's not working when i clicked...

The article is a trending story on WKRN.com
WKRN is channel 2 news out of Nashville, TN

 

[TMT Tactical]

Rattle snakes in my territory fall under the 3S rule. Shoot, Shove and Shut up. Saying, Stolen from one of our members. I have no shame.

 

[Country Living]

I take it none of you have had a rat eat your eggs. Or have a rat / mouse infestation in the coop. I struggled with a rat infestation two years ago and was at my wits end on getting rid of them. Couldn't poison - no matter how you try to hide the poison the chickens are curious and will find it. My solution turned out to be a live trap (this is an active link). I didn't even have to put bait in the traps. It took me two days to catch and... resolve.... all of the rats. It was interesting to read the Amazon reviews on the live trap, especially the harsh criticisms of those who chose demise over release. One commenter said she released the mice out in the vacant lot in her neighborhood. Sigh.... I almost posted a picture of my "drown tub"; but, I didn't. It's an 18 gallon tub from WM that the x-small live traps fit in nicely.

About a month ago I had little rodent tracks in the PDZ (it's in the poop tray under the roosts for easy cleaning). I put one of the live traps on the poop tray with a small bit of peanut butter cracker in it.... cracker was gone, no rodent. It happened two nights in a row. Hmmm.... put the game camera up and there it was.... an itty bitty almost baby mouse. No wonder it didn't trip the live trap. I went to our local Ace Hardware and got something like this trap. I put it inside the live trap so the birds couldn't get to the peanut butter cracker and get their beak snapped (they seem to have an affinity for peanut butter crackers). I caught the little bugger that night. And its cousin two nights later. This snap-trap was so easy to set - nothing like the mouse traps of old where you got whacked more than the mouse. I keep the live traps in the coop at all times as a just-in-case. I haven't seen any signs of rodents since the baby mice were eliminated.

If a little mouse is in the coop during the day, the chickens catch it and they have great fun playing keep-away with it. It's not for the weak-hearted. The birds have finally learned to leave the toads alone. They gather around the toad until I walk over and pick it up to relocate it outside the pen.

 

[TMT Tactical]

@Country Living Thanks for the links. I really liked the 6-pak traps. Cost effective (for El Cheapo here).

 

[Meerkat]

@Country Living Thanks for the links. I really liked the 6-pak traps. Cost effective (for El Cheapo here).

Dollar General has real cheap rat traps too.

5 minutes ago we just chased a large rat aka chicken snake out of the yard. He is not afraid of us at all. I had to keep stepping away from it so it wouldn't crawl up my leg. It went up a cedar so I did't get it with the grabber. We have rats in these woods and one got inside the heater vent in he truck, it took MONTHS to get rid of smell, all kinds of work taking off parts.
I won't kill the snakes unless they keep comign back.
I grew up jumping over them in the Stone Mountain woods and swimming with them in our 10 acre 45' deep lake. And of course the story about the two moccasins in the creek washing 10 Commandment wall rug. Mama killed those 2 but I almost got a beating for blaspheming too, forgot if I did or not. It was like God sent those two to warn me.

 

[Weedygarden]

Dollar General has real cheap rat traps too.

5 minutes ago we just chased a large rat aka chicken snake out of the yard. He is not afraid of us at all. I had to keep stepping away from it so it wouldn't crawl up my leg. It went up a cedar so I did't get it with the grabber. We have rats in these woods and one got inside the heater vent in he truck, it took MONTHS to get rid of smell, all kinds of work taking off parts.
I won't kill the snakes unless they keep comign back.
I grew up jumping over them in the Stone Mountain woods and swimming with them in our 10 acre 45' deep lake. And of course the story about the two moccasins in the creek washing 10 Commandment wall rug. Mama killed those 2 but I almost got a beating for blaspheming too, forgot if I did or not. It was like God sent those two to warn me.

Won't snakes keep coming back? If you do not want to kill them, can you take them a few miles away? Me? I would have to eliminate them. I haven't done that in centuries, but I have done it. I don't play helpless. I take care of the business that needs to be taken care of.

 

[Country Living]

Snakes are just a part of living in the country. The only ones I dispatch are those in or near the chicken coop. Otherwise, they get to do their snake thing, even the venomous ones. You can relocate one snake; but, three more will take its place. Rat snakes do more than eat chicks and eggs. They're excellent for eliminating field mice. We had a rat snake in the barn for quite a while and it kept the field mice population to zero.

 

[Caribou]

Won't snakes keep coming back? If you do not want to kill them, can you take them a few miles away? Me? I would have to eliminate them. I haven't done that in centuries, but I have done it. I don't play helpless. I take care of the business that needs to be taken care of.

If a snake is a problem for you then why take it to someone else's place and let it go. Any critter that becomes a problem goes down.

I've got mouse traps set now. We don't have snakes but if a bear shows up we'll make room for him on the wall or the living room floor.

 

[Weedygarden]

If a snake is a problem for you then why take it to someone else's place and let it go. Any critter that becomes a problem goes down.

I agree, same as with a squirrel, rodent or anything, but it seems she does not want to kill it. It is not going to go away, except while you are chasing it. Then it will come back.
I wouldn't think twice about knocking it off. It would be a knee jerk reaction for me.

 

[TMT Tactical]

I believe in the laws of nature and the need to control your territory. Snakes will try to kill other snakes that invade it's territory. I will kill critters that invade my territory. They leave me alone and my territory (critters) and I will leave them alone. I step into their territory, they are welcome to try me on. In my compound, they die.

 

[Meerkat]

I understand why yall kill them but we try our best not to since they kill varmits that cause a lot more trouble than the snakes do.

 

[Country Living]

Y'all jinxed me. It was just about daybreak this morning when I was getting ready to go to the coop and clean the poop trays. I hear the Guineas alerting on the baby monitor that's in the coop. I never hear the Guineas that early in the morning. I go into the coop, get the snake grabber, and start looking. The Guineas gave me a hint where to look and it was under the Guinea house (we have a hen house and a Guinea house which some of the hens moved into when some of the other hens in the hen house couldn't behave themselves). The Guineas calmed down when I came in the coop; but, they moved to the far side of the coop instead of going out into the pen. The hens were staying up on their roosts. The snake was a small one, only about 4' long and skinny. It's hard to grab a skinny snake and I missed. It's gone. The only place it could have gone was up the back the Guinea house which is inaccessible.

The hens were out in the pen and the Guineas were bedded down closer to the Guinea house when I came back in the coop about 8:30am. I think they were creating a barrier between the snake and the nesting boxes. They moved under the hen house once I came inside the coop.

I couldn't find the darn thing. Kept looking. Finally found it in a small crevice in the top of the Guinea house and just couldn't snag it. It took me about an hour and a half of moving panels and forcing it to go to a place more convenient for me. I finally grabbed it with the snake grabber.

The Guineas are still under the hen house and I suspect they'll be there until it's time to go to roost. Since the snake was right above their roost, I'm curious if they will even go in the Guinea house tonight. They know I got the snake because they saw me drag it out of the coop.

I do like my Guineas. They are amazing watch dog/birds. They let me know when something is amiss and the hens even listen to them!