Black Racers (snakes) in the coop!

[Kamara]

Hi All,

I just shooed away the fourth black racer this month! They are usually in the egg box with an egg or two already inside them, and they never touch the hens/vice versa. The coop is very old and no matter how much i patch it up they always find their way back in. We are building a new coop this summer but in the meantime what should i do to keep them away? I know black racers are pretty timid but are they a danger to my hens? will they attract other types of snakes as well?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

The term Black Racer is iMO the same thing as a CHICKEN SNAKE or the same species as a RAT SNAKE. They have been renamed by the so called Environmentalist to obscure this serpents' real proclivity, that being eating eggs, baby birds, and of course baby chicks.

This snake can climb 10 feet straight up a brick wall just to get to a birds' nest in the eve of your house or even to access the inside of your home.

"How you gonna keep em out of your coop once they've tasted your eggs? ? ?"

 

[centrarchid]

I have Black Rat Snakes and Black Racers here. The snake pictured looks like the former to my eye. They have very different hunting styles. The Black Rat Snake is slower and more inclined to take larger prey items from nest whether they are eggs or chicks. The Black Racer engages in rapid chases going after elusive prey like mice and frogs it finds often in the open. Both species will go through rodent burrows in pursuit of eats. I have a video somewhere showing a Black Racer hunting in open where chicks were running about with their mother. Their mother attacked the snake well.

 

[centrarchid]

The Black Rat Snake is a good climber for a snake but cannot climb smooth surfaces that are also flat. They cause my all sorts of fits with nest attached to panels of dog kennel. To stop the egg stealing I have placed nests on top of 55-gallon barrels. The Black Rat Snake is very good at standing on its back end to get past the hard to climb stretches but about 36" is likely too big for most that have been working my egg collection areas.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Don't sell old No Shoulders short. Black snakes, black racers, chicken snakes, or rat snakes etc are very good climbers except of slick glass vertical walls like centrachid mentioned.