To Kill or not to Kill?
 

We're talking snakes here rather than chavs, politicians, family members etc., etc., .:p

Here's the situation, I have a 5 - 6 black rat snake that's been getting in and eating eggs that I have a hen setting on to hatch (~ 4 or 5 eggs each time). I have tried to leave eggs in another nest free for the taking but she would rather eat the nice warm ones.

I really hate to have to kill it. I have spent a few midnights relocating her way off into the pasture. However, she keeps returning. I also believe she has gotten into a couple of bluebird boxes and eaten the babies.

The family all wish/beg that I kill her. She does have a ravenous appetite but then again, rat snakes supposedely keep the Copperheads away.

So, waht would my Accyweb family suggest?

Brian

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

Is there nobody you could call out to remove the snake?
A professional snake catcher or something like that?
That way you don't need to harm the snake and it could be released somewhere far away from you?

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

i suggest kill the thieving git.;)

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

Nah, no professional snake removers around here Loz. I could relocate it but it would end up smashed on the road like so many of it's brethren. Plus, not many folks around here would appreciate a snake this size nabbing it's kittens or baby squirrels!

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

Fair enough!
Just a thought!
Really can't think of anything else sorry!
It would be a shame to have to kill it though:(

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

Gosh, just read through the General Chat threads. Maybe should have titled this: A poll about whether I should capture and detain this snake for more or less than 42 days?

Then again, good thing I support our death penalty eh? :p

Brian

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

are these things like rattlers , they partner up for life , if you find one there is usually the mate/partner not far away , and probably a nest of eggs (with snakes inside) not far away. ..........Kill it .......

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

The little ones aren't a bother at all. They keep the mice, voles, moles, in check. It just when they get this big and visiting young children go missing that it becomes a little unnerving! LOL

Brian

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

don't think the death penaty applies in this case .... don't see any murdering going on here, just nature taking it's natural course, even tho that course often offends human sensibilities ....

As an aside, the ministry of environment in Ontario, is reintroducing wolves in areas where the deer population is expanding at too great a rate. The idea of wolves ripping Bambi to shreds is not attractive to most humans, but it does make for a healthy deer population .... and I'm sure you will agree with this. Nature red in tooth and claw, eh;)

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

Think the same applies to little Foxy Woxy in this country Eric, country folk want to hunt it with dogs, townies are against blood sports, for me I have never had much opinion about it as not to many people on horseback ride through Ossy wearing red coats, but I have seen first hand what the fox can do in a hen house, it kills the lot gust for the fun of it, I'm talking 30 hens here, not much love for the fox from the owner of these hens

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

Can you not Snake proof teh hen house overnight?

I'm comfortable with killing it if necessary( nature works both ways, its nature for it to kill the eggs buit its also nature for us further up teh food chain to kill it to protect our food source) but if you can persuade it to desist then thats teh preferred solution.

I think you should eat it if you kill it though! :D

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Do you not have an SPCA in your area they would take care of it and re home it
for those that dont know its lke the RSPCA here.

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

Thanks for all the thoughts and suggestions. I guess I know what needs doing. I believe that extra shot of whiskey in my grapefruit juice was making me a bit soft last night:p.

These snakes are very common. Not something the SPCA would wish to deal with. (Too many cats and abandoned dogs filling their cages already).

Ian, it's not just the small barn. These snakes are very clever. This is the same size snake I caught (and killed) 2 years ago inside a "very tight" turkey pen, just after it had swallowed it's fifth 3 - 4 week old chick for it's evening meal.

Thanks again, pictures to follow!

Brian

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

If you kill it could you skin it and send me the cured skin? ;)

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

Send it up here, bud ... school's out and the neighbour's kid is a tad to loud ... :D

By the way, we are starting to have a problem with Fishers up our way, cats are disappearing .... do you have any in your neck of the woods? I suppose I could google "Fisher" and find out what their range is, but I'm feeling lazy and would rather do it the old fashioned way.;)

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

Just be gratefull you dont live this way , with all the forest fires we have been having of late mountain lions are being seen in suburban areas, one chap was attacked the other day , just natures way , they are following all the sodding deer which have also been chased out of the burnt out areas

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

I was wondering how close you were to the fires .... how close are you to the Big Sur? We've been lucky so far .... above average rainfall has helped, but there is a lot of summer left.

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

a fair distance from Big Sur , but the whole State is as dry as a tinderbox, there was a small fire about 1/2 mile away the other day up one of the canyons , required helicopter water drops to get it under control, most of the home losses are due homeowners carelessness in not keeping a decent firebreak around their homes .
There was a good book published a few years back "the Cadillac Desert" made a lot of sense, explained how before the Europeans and Technology the whole area (west of the Sierras) was pretty much devoid of any population apart from small groups around the Bay and along the coast
Cadillac Desert (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

Make a nice leather belt:hidewall:

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

If it's 6' long it might make a nice handbag. :)

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

Aaah LYY ... you are such a kind lad.

Remember those black rat snakes when I lived over your way for a while, and did happen to send a couple on their way to snake heaven through a meeting with my tyres. There was always lots on the roadside who had met there demise but, remember, they are considered a sort of vermin and overpopulated. 'Rat' is the key word here, and they are no better than that ... so, sorry, you will have to protect your own livestock I'm afraid.

Just please don't tell us you have given it a name.:(

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

He could call it Maggie .... and then after he kills it, he can give it a state funeral .... State of Virginia style.:D

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

now yer being unfair to "Rat Snakes" Eric, vermin - yeh , maggie - a bit much.:D;)

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

Last night I had to shoot a deer .... I was visiting friends a ways north of here, and I decided to take a short cut on the way back, a wicked, hilly, winding streatch of road, known as the Burnt Hills Road ... I hit a deer. Fortunately for me, I was driving my buddy's pick-up, as my own car was in the shop. I hit her in the back end and it looks like I broke her pelvis and shattered her legs. I phoned the Kingston Humane Society, and they said they would be about an hour getting out there with the lethal injection. My buddy is a hunter and there was a .308 in the gun rack of his truck and some ammo locked in a box. I told the people that I had a gun, and that rather than leave the poor animal suffering for an hour or so, I could end her pain. The guy asked me if I was sure I could do it in one shot, and asked about the location (no one for miles around) and the calibre of the gun (more than adequate) .... so I held the gun to her head, and shot her. And all the time she looked at me with those big brown eyes.

I know that rat snakes are not as cute as bambi; and I know that she had to be killed, so, Brian, if there is any moral to this tale it is this: if there is any way you can handle your wild, reptillian friend without killing it, I hope your find it.

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

The only way to get rid of any vermin is to take away the food source, if they eat rats, mice etc..then get ridof the mice, rats etc, if they eat the eggs then im afraid ya have to get rid of them.
If there is no food they will soon ****** off!;)

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

The question is though eric


Grilled or fried for tea?

:D

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

how can anyone killl em?
just seen a pic, ...i think they cute!

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

I've got nothing against snakes, they have to make a living just like any other creature. Then again I've got nothing against rats which are intelligent, adaptable animals and, again, just making a living. The trouble is we are, justifiably or not, at the top of the food chain. Rats, sadly, give us nasty diseases and chew through everything in sight. Snakes eat the things we want to eat ourselves. Unfortunately, for us to survive, snakes and rats often have to go. It's a ******, isn't it?

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

Only if you are a snake and a rat .... :D

But I do think that anyone who wishes to kill an animal, should do it up close and personal .... not like those ball-less wonders who killed the horses in Darwen.

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

On a lighter note: if it were not for mosquitoes, I think I could take a stab at being a fairly decent Buddhist:D

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

Oops .... hope I didn't offend any Buddhists;)

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

I suppose to the animal world we are akin to Gods. We have the power of life or death and the sane and responsible among us use that power only when it is necessary and inevitable. I have used it myself, more than once, to end the suffering of a much-loved and cherished animal. I would not see any animal suffer, even a rat, and would have the deed done as humanely as possible. There is no comparison with the evil dregs who killed those horses. They are scum and deserve the same fate themselves.

Re: To Kill or not to Kill?
 

Wish someone would kill a bleeding mocking bird or at least detain it for H M P