black snake AKA the egg stealer
I joined the chicken co-op here at the farm and the “girls” are laying eggs like crazy. I have Tuesdays which pretty much keeps us set with eggs until my next stint.
I have a history with chickens. If you haven’t read my blog about being the alpha chicken, you can find it here: I’m the Alpha Chicken
The other day I went in to gather eggs and feed and water the girls and there was a big black snake in one of the nesting boxes. I could tell he’d already swallowed one egg because there was a pointy egg shaped lump about 4 inches down from the sucker’s head. A good part of his body was still coming down the wall into the box and egg #2 was lying just in front of his head.
“That’s my egg and I’m not sharing eggs with you! Leave now you little %^^&*&()_$” I yelled at him. I had no idea what to do but I was going to get egg #2 away from him. I know that snakes get lethargic once they’ve eaten, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to stick my hand right by his head to snatch that egg away.
I picked up the other eggs the girls left lying around and when I went back, the black snake had turned his head enough for me to zip my gloved hand in and snatch up that egg he would be claiming! Whew. Now what? There was no way I was picking this snake up and there aren’t any tools in the hen house. Besides, I couldn’t see myself killing the snake. I don’t kill things.
I took the chicken waterer to the pump to wash and fill as I pondered my situation. The black snake wasn’t going to hurt the girls, but he would most certainly eat eggs and cause minor heart attacks to the other egg gatherers.
As I lugged the waterer back into the coop, I realized I had no choice but to snatch him by the head and carry him outside. I wasn’t looking forward to this but I had to do something. I approached the nesting box with steely determination, only to discover the snake had disappeared! Excellent! I looked around for him, but I figure he must have been insulted by my yelling and swearing and decided to get out while he could.
I wonder if slithering back the way he came broke that egg inside him? There certainly wasn’t a large enough hole in the ceiling and wall for the snake to get out with the full egg shape intact. I haven’t seen him since and Ken says we need to put some hardware cloth around the upper walls. But the chicken door stays open all the time. Looks like I might meet up with Mr. Snake again some morning and I still don’t know what to do. Any suggestions?
Drop me a comment below and let me know your best methods for harmlessly getting rid of black snakes in the chicken coop or anywhere else as far as I’m concerned.
And don’t forget to subscribe to the Reach High Tribe and get my weekly email on weird and wonderful, mostly humorous thoughts about this and that. You can do that by clicking here! Sign Me Up!
