And he brought a friend.
I know you all warned me that he would be back (you were right, Mom) but I preferred to dwell peacefully in the beautiful land of Denial. Being only a part-time resident of Denial, I did check for eggs about fifty five times a day. I did go to the hen house armed with my trusty hoe, and I did peek to make sure the hen house was unoccupied before I opened the door. But I was convinced that we had thoroughly scared the snake, dubbed Salazar Slither-in by my kids, so I was sure he would find someone else to bother – perhaps someone without a hoe.
Well, today he proved me wrong and he brought a girlfriend. He also decided that since he couldn’t find any eggs, due to aforementioned diligence of removing them from hen house, he would dine on chicken instead. The awful creature helped himself to one of my sweet, little Buff Orpington chicks. Since the chick is a month old, and not nearly as little and cute as the one in the photo, I am pretty sure that it was too big for the snake to swallow but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t trying. It certainly made it impossible for Salazar Slither-in to escape the mystical Hoe of Hufflepuff (I know, not as exciting as the Sword of Gryffindor but it is what I had). His buddy girlfriend him at the first sign of trouble.
This time I know he won’t be back.
I know what keeps them out!! Put a line of food grade (for cattle) lime around your hen house, it burns the snakes bellies!!I had a friend that had problems in her basement-and her Mom found this out from a old lady in Mississippi- so I helped her spread it around her house- no more snakes in the basement! Actually- if you mix it with water- you get whitewash (what people paint the inside of there dairy barns with) (Use a mask when spreading it, it’s not toxic- just not good to inhale, wear gloves because it will SUCK the moisture out of your hands)
See if there is anything online- but I know that it is a safer alternative to snake repellents that could be harmful to your chickens.And a hoe that can be harmful to your toe!!(sorry- had to throw that in) As you can tell- I was brought up on a dairy farm, we had chickens, but it was a weasel that got ours- messy sad thing.
By the way- I found your web site through the yahoo dishcloth group- I wasn’t stalking- I wanted to see the patterns you have!!
Good Luck!!-Stacy from upstate NY
Glad you got him … I hate snakes.
Hooray – the serpent has been slayed!! Poor little chick.