Huge snake in the barn

[the4heathernsmom]

Well I killed my first snake of the season. Hubby had killed a couple but not this close to the house. Oldest son came from the barn screaming "Momma snake momma snake" I am thinking ok a little copperhead better get him while he is little. Nope I go to check it out, wobbling on my bad leg, machete in one hand hoe in the other. Huge snake of unknown variety is hanging and intertwining with the rafters up above his head looming and bobbing yuck ok not a job for momma so we holler for daddy. When I start hollering he comes with the shotgun. Now my roof is somewhat peppered with tiny holes but the culprit was shot and it looked to be a water mocassin but when it finally dropped to the ground it was an oddly colored and patterned rat or chicken snake....in excess of 6' long!!!!! Sorry but he had to go for the heart attack factor lol and I have poultry everywhere!!! Well upon further investigation there was a perfect round ball.....ok he got one of my eggs from the chicken house.....nope he ate a golf ball from the chicken house !!!!!!!!!!! Whew we will be on the lookout up above now instead of just below!

 

[ducks4you]

The snake is there because there is snake food there. We do NOT have the large number of poisonous snakes here in IL that YOU have, BUT, when I moved to my 5 acres, a couple of garter snakes were living around my house because of mice from the farm fields that almost surround our property. I ONLY have 3 cats at the moment, though 4 is enough to keep vermin OUT of my house, and keep the population low in my barn. You really NEED some predators, and the snakes won't come looking for mice, rats, and other rodents INSIDE of your barn. I guess you'll know best, but I have HEARD that pigs are good because they are impervious to rattlesnake bites, AND they eat them.

 

[hoodat]

I've never understood the fear of non poisonous snakes. I think they are beautiful creatures.

 

[ducks4you]

I AGREE that snakes are beautiful and I appreciate their worth, BUT, if you live with small children where they could be bitten by a poisonous snake, it can be a life-threatening situation. I enjoyed the garter snakes--I used to catch them when I was a kid--but I KNEW why they were there. I keep food downstairs in my basement pantry room, and, with my "mouser" cats I have never seen one mouse anywhere in our house in the ten years that we've lived there. Hope this helps you!!

 

[the4heathernsmom]

Oh I so totally understand the benefits of having a few non venomous snakes around.....It was dark in the barn and the view we had of it's head was triangular denoting a venomous snake in our region ....it resembled a huge water mocassin that is why it was killed...plus it was in the rafters in the barn above my son's head....not something I am willing to chance to see if a snake is venomous or not. It had obviously been in the coop because it ate a golfball.....it was large enough to easily eat a chicken an egg here and there no biggie I would gladly trade an egg to have a few around to keep mice, moles, etc at bay but not my whole chickens. I was told it was a rat/chicken snake but it was oddly colored a very faint dark gey criss cross pattern on black,,,,and the underside was not yellow or faint green is was darker grayish....weird. We do have pigs on their own 1 acre pasture pen 2 of them and yes they eat snakes but I can't let them run loose lol!!! We have recently learned the piggies will eat almost anything !!!! Ours even eat rose bushes or chew them anyways....they are also very smart!!!!

 

[hoodat]

Sounds like a chicken snake all right. They're kind of blotchy looking. Dark and light gray blotches. They eat a lot of eggs. If it swallowed a golf ball I'd bet a hen was trying to set it. They go by scent so it must have smelled like chicken. An old trick to get rid of them used to be to use a glass egg in a nest. They'll swallow it and can't digest it or pass it so it will kill them. Snakes can't regurgitate. The trouble with that is sometimes you don't get your glass egg back and real ones aren't cheap.

 

[the4heathernsmom]

Well I did not know that about glass eggs......I put golf balls in there to encourage laying in the boxes instead of the floor and sometimes I get a broody so she can sit on the golf balls until I put the eggs I want to hatch under her. I have used plastic easter eggs before lol lol........I thought it was so strange for it to have eaten that golf ball.....I wonder why it didn't regurgitate it when it wasn't digesting...well no telling how long it had been in the snake I have had them in the nests for 2 years.

 

[hoodat]

Well I did not know that about glass eggs......I put golf balls in there to encourage laying in the boxes instead of the floor and sometimes I get a broody so she can sit on the golf balls until I put the eggs I want to hatch under her. I have used plastic easter eggs before lol lol........I thought it was so strange for it to have eaten that golf ball.....I wonder why it didn't regurgitate it when it wasn't digesting...well no telling how long it had been in the snake I have had them in the nests for 2 years.

Snakes can't regurgitate. It's a one way street.
Hens are funny. I had one once that tried her best to hatch a porcelain door knob.

 

[the4heathernsmom]

Now THAT is funny...a doorknob of all things!!!!!!

 

[citychickinthecountry]

We killed a chicken snake that had his head hanging into out chicken coop one night...just waiting for me to leave so he could try and feast. He was about 2 inches wide and over 5 feet long. The second one we caught (well over 5 feet long) and released at a lake about a half mile from our house.

I also have kids and I agree with you about the fear of your kids being bitten...especially when kids don't always listen to mom saying "be sure to look up and all around before you go into the chicken coop for snakes".

It's hard to keep chicken snakes away from what they want. You just hope for the best and keep your eyes open....and I don't let my kids go into the coop before an adult checks it out to make sure there are no snakes or critters that might have slipped in overnight.