Snake in the Hen House!

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We let our chickens free range during the day and in the evening I close the door to their house.

A couple of nights ago I was a bit late in closing the door. I grabbed a torch and went down to close the door.

A carpet snake was slithering in and it was about 1 metre from the hens.

I am ashamed to say, I started screaming! I yelled out to my husband to come and get rid of the snake.

So eventually my husband wanders down ... a meandering slow pace while I'm screaming, 'There's a snake in the chicken's house! Help! Help!'

I grabbed the chickens and put them in the house (They stayed asleep) and my husband chased the snake out.

I told my husband off for being so slow in coming downstairs and he said,

"What did you expect me to do? Wrestle the snake, tie it up in a lasoo and swing it around my head?"

Helen

Eeek!
For that reason and many more I am glad there are no snakes in NZ!

I always get a really dramatic image in my mind when brits and aussies say they used a torch.

I was expecting you to say you got rid of the snake by burning down the henhouse.

Sadly, we found a yellow rat snake dead on our front porch. It had bite marks on it, so probably it got into a tangle with a raccoon or some other animal. It's too bad, as I like snakes. Snakes eat rats, and rats get in my attic and mess it up. So seeing a snake get killed makes me sad.

I love snakes also and think they get a "bad rap" I think I always liked them because everyone else I knewhated and feared them. I could relate to their plight and so grew to love them and stand up for them.
Be kind to the snakes, I miss the fact that there arent any here in Alaska.

I'm happy to hear that your husband did not kill the snake. Screaming and running away is harmless, and understandable for someone with a fear of snakes. In fact, if you don't know enough about snakes to be certain that a snake you encounter is not venomous, running away from it is a good reaction.

Unfortunately, it's pretty common for people to kill snakes under similar circumstances. This is not only unnecessary but a good way to get bitten. Most snake bites occur when a person intentionally makes contact with a snake, and attempting to kill the snake is a common reason for this. A lot of people don't know that because of their slow metabolism, snakes die slowly and retain certain reflexes for hours after death. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for people to be envenomated by "dead" snakes.

Carpet pythons are harmless to people and they actually are popular as pets, but I can see how coming upon one by accident could be frightening. Australia sounds like an exciting place to live!

We would never kill a snake.

We did take the time to admire the beautiful colouration of the snake. It was a really beauty!(sounds like what Steve Irwin would have said).

But we do need to train the snake to only eat mice and rats .... not our chickens!

Helen

Don't feel ashamed for screaming. It causes a moment of fear coming upon one usually. It's probably hard-wired in us to be startled (is that a word?) cause we don't know what kind of snake it is. Good survival instincts.
Do they eat the chickens or just the eggs?
I miss snakes. My idea of a good alarm system is to have signs around the outside of the house that read
"Warning:Multiple Large Snakes Roam Freely Inside"
My memory of how my ex husband "screamed like a little girl" when he came upon a snake in our basement, still brings a smile to my face after 22 years. I had to remove it. Hes afraid of snakes.

Carpet pythons eat birds and mammals. Although they only grow to be about 5 or 6 ft long, they can eat prey that is twice as wide as they are, or wider. So I think one could eat a chicken.

In order to get the snake to leave the birds alone and go for the pesky rodents instead . . . maybe try altering the chickens' enclosure to give them better protection? If a snake can get in, other types of predators might find a way in as well, so this could be advantageous in general. There might be a way to let smaller snakes still be able to get in - ones that would leave the chickens and their eggs alone and just eat rodents.

I feel like a snake in a hen house, sometimes. I like to be smooth, slick and tough.

The reason I screamed so loud was one of my friends just had 2 of her chickens eaten by a carpet snake. She was amazed at how small the snake's head was, but the missing chickens and big lumps in the snakes tummy confirmed it!

If I'd seen a snake I would have been okay, my screaming was fear for my chickens.

We regularly see snakes. We live on 2.5 acres and most of our land is native bush. The boys love the snakes and want to catch them and keep them as pets.



The snake got in because I'd left the door open (I free range them during the day and close the door in the evening). It was sliding in through the front door. Their house has snake-proof wire and a roof.



Yes it is!

Yesterday we had a 2 metre (approximately 7 foot) goanna under the house. My 9 year old son and I were so excited.

This morning a cheeky cockatoo was eating my passionate fruit. The rainbow lorikeets and king parrots eat all my apples. Really, I need to give the carpet snake and the birds a list of what they are allowed to eat, and what they need to keep for us!

Twice a year we'll spot a koala in a tree near our house.

We see wallabies about 1/month eating grass for breakfast at our place.

Helen

P.S. The day after Steve Irwin died our family was driving on a main road very early in the morning. My husband suddenly slammed on the brakes and said, 'Look .... a snake ... it's going to get run over.

He did a u-turn and parked the car. On the road was a HUGE snake (python of some sort). It was at least 4 metres long (12 foot+) and really FAT. It was sunning itself.

My husband got a big stick and prodded it to make it get off the road. It hissed loudly, then reluctantly slid away into the bush!

The boys and I thought our husband was a huge hero for saving the BIG snake.

Helen

It is nice to see that plenty of people here respect the less fuzzy side of nature.