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Another One

Warning: There’s a snake picture down below!

I was out moving water hoses around, enjoying my afternoon. I always stop and check on the chickens, ask them how their day is going, check for eggs, check the water to make sure they have plenty since it’s so hot. I opened the door to look at the water in the bantam coop and OMG . . there was another rat snake. It was a week ago yesterday we killed that huge one out there. This one was inside the coop, stretched out on the second floor “balcony”.  I knew shooting inside the coop would not make Vince happy. I closed the coop door and started walking towards the house . . my first thought was to call Vince to come home but then I figured . . it was my idea to live out in the woods and have chickens so I’d better learn to deal with it.

Before you ask, I took off the flip flops and put on my boots, even though I was wearing capri pants. A snake in the chicken coop is no time to make a fashion statement (especially since I hadn’t even put on makeup today).

Boots

Boots

In the house I grabbed the camera (there’s a blog post to write, you know?), then I grabbed the hoe out of the garden, then the shovel out of the shop. The whole time I was walking back to the coop, I was saying “Be Brave!” Why does Vince have to do everything. Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I can’t do some of the hard stuff, right? OK .. that’s what I was thinking too . . it’s just better for Vince to be in charge of varmint killing . . especially if it is something that requires more than a bullet. I’m pretty brave when there’s a bit more distance between me and the varmint but having to get close enough to scrape it out of the coop and chop its head off with a shovel . . Vince is much better suited for that. I’ll bet his hands wouldn’t still be shaking!

So, I closed the chicken door so they wouldn’t run in about the time I was trying to get the snake out. Then I went around to the human door, opened it, scooped him down from the balcony and out the door with the hoe. Then I chopped his head off.

Snake

Snake

Then I peed in my pants . . or was that before I chopped his head off? No  . . I didn’t do that but I can tell you my hands were shaking. I’ve chopped heads off snakes before but I think it was getting him out of the coop that scared me worse.

Then I came in and thank goodness I had some white chocolate Bliss candy in here for some reason. I’m not sure . . a glass of wine may still be needed.

I did have to laugh at myself trying to pull my boots off with my knees still knocking.

The worst part . . I have to go back out there and finish taking care of the chickens’ water and feed.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Good girl Judy! Way to go!
    Maybe some Martinelli apple juice , carbonated?

    • These are Justins and I love them! They’re my favorite pair and the ones I wear if I don’t have on flip flops.

  3. Super huge frozen strawberry margarita should help.!

  4. You are SO BRAVE.
    I guess I just wasn’t born to be a country girl.
    But I guess if there was a snake near my children I could be brave too.
    Good Job chicken-mama.

  5. Are you afraid the snakes will eat your chickens? If the snake is a rat snake, they would be keeping your rat/mice population down. I do understand your fear but I would tend to move them when found and let them live. Just my thoughts.

    • You wouldn’t last long in the country. You would quickly be overrun with snakes. The snakes would take over. Rat snakes are also known as chicken snakes. Once they know where there are chickens, they will return. They will eat small chickens, and all the eggs and worse, I don’t want to open the coop door and find a big snake in there. For every one we see, there are probably 100 more out in the woods.

      • Wow,you answered my question regarding the threat to your chickens by the snake. Thank you. I have managed to survive 57 years in the country. I am not an animal rights type person by any means. I just like to gain knowledge and that is why I read your blog and ask questions.Hope you find reliable way to keep the snakes at bay so you can get back to quilting,prepping and knitting subjects.

  6. You go girl! Great job and a great big hug and congratulations are on their way to you. I would still be shaking and yelling at my husband because he was nowhere to be found when he was needed (LOL). I am one big “scaredy (is that a word?) cat” when it comes to bugs, snakes, and spiders. I am afraid of all of them.

    • I’d rather deal with the occasional snake and have Vince bring home the paycheck! 🙂 I’m afraid of them too but being afraid doesn’t get the job done so I have to suck up my fear and take care of the tasks that present themselves when I’m home alone.

  7. You are amazing. I would have run screaming from the coop and never gone back. Which is why I don’t live in the country.

    • I will be apprehensive for a while. I was just getting to the point that I didn’t stop and look under the coops when I walked by them and it was 8 days ago that we killed the first snake under the coop.

  8. You are so brave Judy! We had a little tiny 8 inch long snake in the yard this weekend and I still have the heeby-jeebies. I probably would need the entire vat of wine to calm down after seeing one like you took care of!

  9. Great job, Judy – definitely time for a glass of wine or a margarita – just a little something to settle your nerves (or maybe mine, LOL). Snakes have ALWAYS scared the bejeebers out of me and still do.

    • Did not waste a bullet and you know . . they’re about like gold these days since some of them are pretty darned hard to find!

      • Go Judy! You are so brave. And yes ,that ammo is pretty hard to find, limited here to 2 boxes if they even get some in……….have to check several times a week! lol

  11. Good job, Judy. I had to drag a snake out of the rafters of my chicken house. I know how you are feeling. I was shaking for an hour. Not everyone agrees with me, but I think the only good snake is a dead one. I saw a black snake swallowing one of my 3 week old chicks once. It was not pretty. Thankfully hubby was home that day.

    • Yep, that’s what they will do. We have a bag of snake repellant. Not sure how or if it works but we’re about to find out!

    • I agree with you that the only good snake is a dead snake. I don’t live in the country now, but I grew up in the country and killed many snakes when I was just a girl. I hate them all.

  12. shivers!! Good for you Judy. I’d still be tempted to shoot him. Yikes getting into an enclosed space with ssss-sssss-ssssnake.

  13. Judy, you are amazing. Good job, well done. A drink, try two or three, you deserve it. Hope Vince is proud of you, he should be.

  14. Are those the snakes you bought the wooden eggs for awhile back? Might be time to lug some more of those out again, huh? Are rat snakes venomous? I’m not scared of snakes but those ARE kinda big!! I got some snake repellent a few weeks ago just to flush out any critters under my shed. The gal said it stinks to high heavens and she said you don’t have to reapply after rain. Haven’t put mine out yet. Think an ice cold DP mighta done the trick? HA

    • They are not venomous but Vince knows a guy who stuck his hand down in the egg box and was bitten by one and he almost lost his hand. They can cause a whole lot of problems. There’s a bag of snake repellant in the shop. I think tonight I will spread it around the coops and see if it makes a difference. Yes, those are the snakes I bought wooden eggs for. We have some outside around the first coop but so far, no takers, but I haven’t seen snakes there either.

  15. Sometimes a girl’s gotta to do what a girl’s gotta do! My grandfather tells the story of a chicken snake that got in the coop, ate some eggs then couldn’t get back out through the chicken wire because the eggs made him too fat. Easy kill! The few snakes that I have had to kill usually wind up in with their head in more than one piece – guess my excitement (fear?) takes over.

  17. Good work! I probably would have puked after killing a snake, so if you had peed your pants, no biggie! Yuck!

  18. Judy – just writing to say a very sincere “Well done”. To be scared of snakes but still find the courage to tackle this one is inspiring. It showed real mettle, and I think you should feel very proud of yourself for rising to the challenge.

    • Well put, Megan. I agree, and you were much more articulate than the “good girl!” I was thinking.

  19. You are too funny! That snake wouldn’t have bothered me… however that scorpion you mentioned the other day in the house…. I wouldn’t be able to sleep.

  20. Snakes freak me out. I haven’t seen any in my yard for a couple years. Of course since I said that, I’ll probably see one tomorrow… I cringe just having to dispose of the dead ones I’ve had before, and they were tiny (babies) compared to yours!

  21. Snake powder does help but not sure it is a cure all. Our yard boy in Taiwan used it all the time. I am sure it helped. The only time he found cobras in our very small yard we had a.mini landslide. The neighbor below us dug out the bottom of our retaining wall. That is a whole other story!

  24. You go Girl! Me…I would be going the other way. Not brave when it comes to snakes but I don’t have chickens. If I did I’d have to change my ways I guess!

  25. Good job, Judy! You ARE brave! I’d have crapped my pants – the pee could wait. LOL

    So, I see the snakes are not venomous. Do they try to bite at all when you’re getting it out of the coop? It didn’t sound like it. Phew!

    I’m sure glad you went out there when you did!!
    (do you count your babies often?)

    🙂

  28. Good job! Glad you could deal with that nasty snake. I hope the next time you find one Vince is home!

  29. You are one heck of a woman. And I really mean that. Those are BIG snakes that you have in Texas. We get black snakes that are big like that here in Kansas and I don’t know that I would be brave enough to chop one up. Way to go Judy!!!

  30. Also, you made me giggle with your preparations: “fashion statement” and remembering the camera!

  31. Yuck! I’m most definitely in the camp of the only good snake is a dead snake. Good for you for taking care of it — I’d still be shaking too. So far I’ve only seen little garden snakes here and I hope it stays that way forever!

  32. Sorry I would have to move, my husband wanted to purchase a farm and all I kept thinking of was all the snakes that would be on the property. Thankfully he had already had two farms when I met him and came to his senses after remembering all the work involved and it never came to life. Whew I don’t know how I would have survived if we had. When we lived in the Middle East I used to always have a big stick with me when we walked in the desert and would keep hitting the ground as someone told me snakes didn’t like the vibrations and would slink away. Thankfully I never saw one there as well.

  33. Have “always” believed ” only good snake is a dead one”!!!! Raised in south Texas where they are bigger around than my leg or arm, big enough when they strike, they put a whole in the truck door…so I packed and I shot …and I’m still alive b/c I still think that way !! I’ve had them chase me and scare the **** out of me! but I was able to get them !!! Thank goodness for boots and jeans..you need to check out the knee high snake boots and jeans covered with snake proof fabric.
    All come from Cabellas..

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