And so it begins.... Bummer you can't edit the title!
This is the first nasty of the season, for sure not the last! Any ideas on who this may be?
I thought the chickens would try to peck at the snake and get eaten but oh no! They sat on their highest perch and were yelling at the top of their lungs... That was the only reason I went to check on them. Im sure glad I did.
This message was edited Apr 7, 2010 7:59 PM
Ick! Sorry, don't know a thing about snakes. It's hard to tell by the pictures, there is lettering over the head, but does it have something in it's mouth? Glad you checked on your chickens, poor scared babies!
I'm with Annie, I don't know anything about snakes, and where are you from with ickies like that. Yikees...
Oh too bad you had to kill it.. I know it could be bad news.. but I love snakes. I'm glad you saved the chickens.. just sad for the snake. :(
It looks like what we call a rat snake. I found one in a nest box last summer so perhaps they also eat eggs. Generally, though, I think they are good guys.
yes rat snakes eat eggs... they are good guys till you put ur hand in a nest box only to find a good length of snake curled up around eggs!
no clue what that one is tho.. I'd have to actually see it. I will start fixing & plugging all holes in the coop tomorrow! no snakes here or ZZ will hear me scream clear in California!
We spend a lot of time walking out in the fields around our house and we saw this snake (or one just like it) a few days ago nearly 1/2 mile away they are usually near water but I have no idea if they are poisonous or not so I wasn't taking any chances. Im an animal lover too so it was hard to kill it but I love my chickys more :(
Rat snake or not, it is definitely not poisonous.
Bummer, If I would have known it wouldn't bite me I would have given it a nice long Mule ride in a bucket.
This would have been a good spot
This message was edited Apr 7, 2010 10:14 PM
I didn't say it wouldn't bite; I just said it wasn't poisonous. They still have plenty of teeth.
My goodness! I thought that was a necklace until I clicked on the picture.
I used to think I liked snakes too, until this big one that lived under my mother's barn had a little rabbit in it's mouth, half swallowed. I haven't liked snakes since.
Here's a picture of a Texas Rat Snake. http://www.bugsinthenews.com/rat_snakes_elaphe_species%20July%2012%202001.htm
This one is eating an egg. http://www.bugsinthenews.com/lindheimer%20rat%20snake%2005122003.htm
Everything you ever wanted to know about snakes in Louisiana: http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/experience/lawildlife/nongame/snakes_of_louisiana_faq.cfm It says only 7 of your 45 species are venomous.
This message was edited Apr 7, 2010 11:38 PM
Wish we had those here! The rats and mice from the fields are bad... it would have plenty to eat and probably never need to bother the eggs! :)
LOL Grey..
We could ship you some zz.
Reminds me of a newspaper article I saw online where this preacher was arrested for selling snakes across state lines. He was from a congregation that believed in snake handling in Kentucky, where they get the venomous snakes out and dance with them during service. He sold them to another preacher in Tennessee if I recall, and got himself arrested.
So many laws, it's impossible to keep up with them all. Apparently he wasn't supposed to do that. I know here in Texas it's illegal to kill a rattlesnake in a national park now.
Karen if it has a triangle shaped head kill it
This Copperhead scared the life out of me when I moved the ducks into the new Aviary. I had just gotten done spreading pine straw and sat down. All of a sudden all my duck got in a circle group and were staring at me I thought. I thought maybe a hawk was in a tree by the cage. I kept looking around and I finally saw it move 3' from me in the straw. It blended right in with it. It was the first time I have ever seen one
it had to have been in the bales of pine straw because it was way to bit to get through 1" chicken wire
Thanks for the tip about the triangle head, I'll look for that the next time I see one. I see rattle snakes around here sometimes. My mother used to say, that snakes are just as afraid of you as you are of them. They will try to avoid you if they can.
All this makes me think about my donkey and roosters at the horse lot. Oh my. Guess it's back to the hardware cloth for me, just thinking about snakes around my roosters.
I have been trying to think of a way to make a nice house and run for them. Knew I needed to keep varmits from digging under, but wasn't considering the snakes as much. I think that donkey probably keeps a lot of animals out of there. I know he hates dogs running down the alley. :)
I just have no idea where to start honestly. First I think wood, it's so much easier to work with, but then I think, no, metal posts would be better and last longer. Oh well, one day at a time.
We have those here too Donna. Its a pretty snake so long as its not in my yard :)
It looks like a corn snake (a type of rat snake). Non-venomous, and will keep your rodent population down. Try to avoid killing them if you can. They are harmless. Yes, they may eat a few eggs now and then, but they eat way more rodents which do much more damage than a snake ever will.
Also, you can't always go by the shape of the head. Non-venomous snakes when threatened will often flatten and widen their head to look triangular - probably a tactic to make a predator think they are venomous!
If you want to discourage them from hanging around your coop or barn, make sure that there aren't piles of "stuff" nearby that they can hide under - tires, plywood, roofing materials, piles of brush/branches, etc. Also keep high grass mowed. It won't totally prevent them, but it will help.
Lastly, you have kingsnakes in LA. Kingsnakes eat other snakes, including venomous snakes. Kingsnakes are your friends. :-)
I agree Gallesfarm... I had a mouse problem that was out of control.. to see a chick go after a mouse poo gave me a scare.. So yeah.. mouse/rat damage is a lot worse!
I hate snakes, we only have garter snakes here. They are only about 18 inches long fully grown. Thats good, I don't kill them, but I don't like snakes of any kind. I could never deal with the snakes you good folks have in the South. When I worked for the sheriff's dept in Baytown, Texas there was a huge apartment complex and they had a very very large pond on their property and because of the little children I had to go on snake patrol three times a week with a snake charmer shot gun to keep the water mocassin population around the pond area down. I hated it. Every time it rained real hard the bottom apartments would get flooded and we'd get snake calls. I hated that also...I hate snakes. I really really hate them...LOL.
Don't be such a hater Haystack.. LOL
I saw a snake today. I screamed. The boys came running & laughed. It was 6 inches long & half the size of a number two pencil. :) It was kinda cute.. it just startled me. Then i remembered if will grow up..
You guys always make me laugh. Thank you for that.
Looks like what we always called a chicken snake but I think it is actually a texas rat snake. They do eat eggs and would likely eat a chicken if the opportunity presented itself. They are not poisonous but will bite. They eat rodents too. Vipers have triangular heads but vipers are not the only poisonous snakes.
In the U.S.A. the only other poisonous snake is the coral snake. It is very poisonous but its mouth is too small to bite anything bigger than a finger tip so the danger is minimal.
I knew a lady who used to buy easter chicks to feed to her husbands snakes. I didn't like her much for that. Seemed pretty cold blooded to me. Her response was, "Well he has to eat".
Well, I suppose he did. They do sell frozen rodents and chicks for snake keepers to feed (after thawing!) so she could have gone that route instead of live chicks.
Hey Porkpal, what about rattlesnakes, water mocassins, and yes the viper, copperhead.
I think, Hay, that porkpal means other than "vipers". Coral snakes are "elapids".
Water moccasins, Copperheads, and Rattlesnakes are all classified as pit vipers.
Ok they are snakes to me.. LOL interesting to know there are different classifications of them..
I guess feeding easter chicks to a snake isn't so bad when you think they are otherwise used as packing peanuts :( My DH's Aunt would buy them for her grand kids most wouldn't make it a full day others were cat food. I think its sad to walk in a feed store and see pretty colored chicks knowing their fate has already been sealed.
Makes me want to buy them all - until I remember they are likely all roosters.
Maybe not, if they were coloured in the egg....they wouldn't know what they were colouring then. But how to tell if they were coloured before or after they hatched?
I wonder what kind they are? Probably Cornish Rex?
I don't discriminate, I don't care what class you put them in, I see a snake I kill it then someone can tell me if it's poision or not, I'm you huckleberry...LOL Ms J.
Maybe not, if they were coloured in the egg....they wouldn't know what they were colouring then. But how to tell if they were coloured before or after they hatched?
I wonder what kind they are? Probably Cornish Rex?
Whoops! I meant Cornish Rock...that is what most Cornish crosses are.
This discussion is part of the reason I don't think I could or would ever sell chickens. Hatching eggs maybe. Sometimes you just do what you have to do though. In the back of my mind, there is a possibility that I might sell chickens some day.... OR... I could just keep them ALL for myself... which sounds like a great idea, as long as I don't have too many little chicken mouths to feed. This little splash Mihalik rooster I just acquired is really pretty, it would be a shame not to let him have some babies.
Selling unfertilized chicken eggs for people to eat might be a great alternative for me. Of course, anything I do hinges on what my health does as well. Lately I've been taking coral calcium with vitamin D, and it actually seems to be helping me feel better. Guess time will tell on that.
I vote we send Hay a rubber snake for his belated BD present. Woohooo hay, and let your wife take a picture as you open the box.
This is what I meant by colored chicks. Ive seen them in years past but thankfully not this year!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ErdqeOvjL0
Those are the ones they dye in the egg. They inject the dye in while the chick is developing...it is illegal to sell them in NYC at least, not because the dye is harmful, but because it stimulates impulse buying.
When the chicks' feathers come in they are normal coloured...almost always white because the yellow down of a white chick shows the dye better.
