snake trouble

[bookwormom]

I have never heard of anyone setting a trap for snakes, but who knows, maybe there is a way and someone here has done it. we have had more problems and lost more baby fowl to snakes this year. A while back a goose hatched six goslings, they were dissappearing at night so husband would take them in the house overnight. Two weeks ago husband went in the chickenhouse and there was a snake with two big humps and two guinea keets were missing. a hen hatched a bunch of chicks and the very next morning all were gone but one and the hen was dead. Husband had locked her over night in a cage and a snake could have gotten in. Poor hen, probably died of horror. this morning we found a gosling dead, way too big to be swallowed, it had been inside the snakes gullet up to it's neck,it looks awful. we have killed 4 or 5 snakes at the barn so far. I am really upset, the world is full of mice and rats and they have nothing better to do but catch little fowl. a couple of hens insist on laying in the hay, the eggs keep disappearing, I figure that is a snake, too. We have to snakeproof all the quarters. but last year I found a snake in broad daylight with a chick still sticking half out of it's mouth. anyone ever had problems with snakes too?

[WileyCoyote]

I have had a serious problem with them; living in a place that was once touted as "The Snake Capital of the World" can't be pretty! I've killed rattlers, copperheads, rat and chicken snakes, and have black and blue racers and greenies - in my yard.

I have one answer. Barn cats. Lots of barn cats, especially females that like to breed. Feed them sparingly and they will bring home everything; mice, rats, snakes, and even rabbits! Let them stay half-wild and don't make cuddly pets out of them, and they will do their job as nature intended. We have lost a few to dogs and snakes and even owls, but the more the merrier as far as yard protection is concerned. Also, as night hunters, they will kill while you are asleep. Most chickens will peck at a cat and roosters will spur them; cats pretty much leave them alone after a few tries.

[jim]

That's good advice.

My grandfather used to place two glass eggs one on each side of a wall with a snake hole and let the snake catch himself. Then he used a hoe. Cats can be snake killing machines, and be sure to give them plenty of milk, and little to no food.

jim

[MadTripper]

We built our house on an old barn foundation (early 1800's). A concrete silo is still in tact and about 8 inches from our house. Snakes have had the run of the place for several years. We started building in November and as we progressed into the spring, I started stumbling on snakes several times a day. My wife can't stand them so I created my own unwritten law that if they were over three feet, I had to dispose of them. Well, it seemed like every time I made a turn, I was running into a milk snake of substantial size.

Once we moved in, we brought our dog. He is about 3 years old and a Shiba Inu (as best I can tell). Honestly, I've never seen a dog like this when it comes to snakes. He is a snake killing machine and actually hunts them. In less than a month, our snake population had decreased dramatically. I haven't seen any in a few weeks whereas I was seeing them at least once a day. For a while, I would come home from work a few times a week and my children would tell me about the snake Dakota killed during the day. He grabs them with his teeth shakes back and forth and thats it. As a matter of fact, he shook a garter snake so hard, the infant snakes flew out of the mother. This of course made my wife happy because they would never be born.

So, if you have a dog and assuming the snakes aren't poisonous, you might be able to train him/her.

[bookwormom]

good dog. It is not that I see snakes, and they do not give me the creeps either when I do see one. I think they live under the hay, which rests on a pallet foundation. nice cool place for them, and Miss Penny even tries to lay her egg in the hay. dinner delivered.
that is why I am thinking of some kind of trap.

[MadTripper]

Considering they are cold blooded, they have to come out during the heat of the day to sun themselves. Keep your eyes out for good sunning areas like rocks, concrete and so on. I've also been told that you can use lime as a sort of wall or barrier for snakes. Supposedly snakes won't cross a line of lime powder because it burns them. Something worth trying if you can find out their living habits and den.