There was a commotion last night as the chickens were preparing to roost. Inside the house, the dogs barked in alarm. “Quiet down, the baby is sleeping” I said to our two hounds. It’s probably just the new cockerel figuring out his position in for the night, I thought, as I headed towards the coop to shut the chickens in for the evening. Counting the chickens, everyone was present except one. “You stinker” I exclaimed as I opened up the nest box to reveal the missing Wyandotte hen. As she exited and found her way to a roost, a broken egg with a wrinkled shell was revealed. The bedding was changed and the chickens were instructed to stop squashing eggs and to eat their calcium. They just looked over my shoulder out at the yard and cocked their head. You know that look.
The second nest box was opened and I was greeted by a black rat snake in mid-egg eating! “Oh, you poor hens. That’s what the commotion was about. What good are these roosters in here with you if they don’t take care of varmints like this!” I said to myself. It was occupied in processing the recent meal, shifting its jaw and glancing at me as I shined a flashlight in the box. A tiny rattle noise erupted from a shaking tail, and I triple checked that this snake was, indeed, a black rat snake. Cream belly, thin tail, faint pattern beneath the black, narrow face, and no rattles! As I used a broom handle to gently lift the snake out of the box, it began to regurgitate the egg sized lump in its throat. Halfway across the property, he expelled the item…a golf ball used to lure the chickens into the nest to lay! I proceeded to lecture the snake. “You have all this forest and creek to wander in. We have relocated you already this week from our garage. We appreciate your mousing skills, since our kitty is getting old and can’t keep up. But you can’t just steal eggs and leave a mess.” Releasing the snake into the weeds near the pond, a doe peeked her head over the tall cattails to inspect my actions, her little fawn no doubt hidden nearby. A lovely habitat for a snake, I thought as I walked back towards the house. I suppose this snake deserves a little grace, since it ate an egg in one box, then picked the one item that was not an egg (surrounded by four other eggs) to eat as his second course. Maybe it needs all the help it can get.
The second nest box was opened and I was greeted by a black rat snake in mid-egg eating! “Oh, you poor hens. That’s what the commotion was about. What good are these roosters in here with you if they don’t take care of varmints like this!” I said to myself. It was occupied in processing the recent meal, shifting its jaw and glancing at me as I shined a flashlight in the box. A tiny rattle noise erupted from a shaking tail, and I triple checked that this snake was, indeed, a black rat snake. Cream belly, thin tail, faint pattern beneath the black, narrow face, and no rattles! As I used a broom handle to gently lift the snake out of the box, it began to regurgitate the egg sized lump in its throat. Halfway across the property, he expelled the item…a golf ball used to lure the chickens into the nest to lay! I proceeded to lecture the snake. “You have all this forest and creek to wander in. We have relocated you already this week from our garage. We appreciate your mousing skills, since our kitty is getting old and can’t keep up. But you can’t just steal eggs and leave a mess.” Releasing the snake into the weeds near the pond, a doe peeked her head over the tall cattails to inspect my actions, her little fawn no doubt hidden nearby. A lovely habitat for a snake, I thought as I walked back towards the house. I suppose this snake deserves a little grace, since it ate an egg in one box, then picked the one item that was not an egg (surrounded by four other eggs) to eat as his second course. Maybe it needs all the help it can get.
I thought snakes were smarter than that and could tell a ball from an egg by ... heat? Or something? Will a snake die if it swallows a golf ball?
