I'm just curious

[IH3444]

I saw the shovel used once in the movie "Little Nicky". It was a brother to brother exchange. It didn't kill either, just make the one brother talk funny....

 

[N80]

There is a famous 'shovel' scene in Blazing Saddles between Slim Pickens and Clevon Little. A classic!

 

[MossRoad]

I don't kill snakes. Can't think of any reason to (I don't own any livestock that a snake might eat). I'm not afraid of non-poisonous ones. Actual poisonous ones, i.e. not the brown water snakes that everyone calls water moccasins and not the corn snakes that everyone calls copperheads, a rare compared to non-poisonous ones. And most any snake will leave you alone, and flee in fact, if you leave it alone...the exception being water moccasins.

I'll never understand why people feel the need to kill them, but I don't judge anyone who kills a poisonous snake if it is in their 'space'. I don't do it, but its understandable. I think killing non-poisonous snakes of any type is wrong and not really any different from killing a blue bird or a chipmunk or a box turtle.

I think in Soundguy's case, non-poisonous snakes still pose a threat to his chickens.... they eat them.

 

[Soundguy]

I think killing non-poisonous snakes of any type is wrong and not really any different from killing a blue bird or a chipmunk or a box turtle.

Remember.. they can and do take small animals... the small chicken farmer doesn't like to see snakes arounf his pens...

soundguy

 

[N80]

Yes, that's why I said that I have no livestock to protect. However, I suspect there is a balance there with chickens. I'd guess that mice and rats are a bigger threat to chicks and eggs than snakes. A snake that eats a chick might not eat again for weeks. A snake that eats a rat won't either AND his removed a threat to the chickens.

I have no experience with chickens but my S-I-L has quite a few....she doesn't 'farm' them but she probably has 20 or 30. Snakes, according to her, have never been an issue. Hawks have been the biggest problem.

Regardless, even if I had chicks, I'd simply pick the snake up and take it somewhere else. But that's just me. I wouldn't anymore kill a snake in the chicken coop than I would a hawk. Of course I know lots of folks who'd rather kill a hawk than a snake. To each his own.

 

[Soundguy]

The hawks are easy... mesh netting keep them and the owls out.... snakes on the other hand are more of a problem here in florida...

Havn't really seen any rats down here.. but do see an occasional mouse.... the hens have no problem chasing the mice away.. and I can't say that I ever lost a chick to a mouse.. but i have lost some to snakes...

I -used- to run sneakes off from the pens.. only to have them come right back to the food source... I found that if i shoveled them.. they stayed away MUCH longer.

The larger birds aren't bothered as much.. my turkey will/have killed black snakes before.. but my banty chickens and roosters aren't up to the task... plus when i'm collecting eggs from the boxes and something strikes at me from somewhere.. I 'shovel first' and ask questions later... Craziest thing I've ever seen... I've seen a few that will strike.... black snakes now.. not moccasins.. and not rattlers...

soundguy

 

[N80]

She's had hawks get in the pen through the netting when there was even a tiny hole or tear and then they get stuck in there and she has to let the dang thing out. Recently built a much better pen with real chicken wire and the hawks have not been an issue.

Skunks still find a way in sometime, but again, even though we got snakes out the whazoo here, she says they aren't a problem. Although, snakes are a bit more stealthy and she just might not realize it. She doesn't really keep a count on the chicks.

I'd bet, but can't prove, that if you killed every snake around a barn or chicken coop you'd end up with way more rats and mice than you'd have otherwise. A cat can serve the same purpose but some cats will eat chicks and small chickens.

A lot of non-poisonous snakes will bluff and strike at you, including black snakes. I have seen, more than once, a non-poisonous snake shake its tail in dry leaves. THAT will get your attention. Brown water snakes are vicious and will strike and bite you hard. Hog nosed snakes, also call puff adders and stink adders will act very aggressive and puff their necks up like a cobra. They rarely bite and if you swat it it will then roll on its back and play possum. If you roll it back over it will turn right back on its back. If you pick it up, like many snakes it will poop a nasty musk on you. And even though I like snakes, any time I surprise one, or it surprises me, it does make me jump. But once I see it is not a danger, I leave it alone.

I know most people will never buy it, but whenever I can I try to encourage people to leave snakes alone when they can. I've always liked them and used to catch and collect them when I was a kid. Pygmy rattlers in the back yard and in the garage in Jacksonville were a common occurrence. Mom always gave them the hoe. Dad always scooped them up in a bucket and put them in the woods. I took a herpetology course in college and learned to respect them and what they do and so now I just have a soft spot in my heart for them.

I've also never heard of a mouse eating a chick, but I've heard of rats eating eggs.

 

[Soundguy]

Luckilly.. no rats here. we do have barn cats and a couple dogs roaming the pasture... the dogs have virtually eliminated possum and coon incursions, and the cats do a good number on the mice. I get a decent amount of snakes.. I'd say I see on every few weeks... the only ones I bother are the ones near the chix pens... the ones near the barn are likly feeding on the mice that the cats are missing.

I remember I was in a chix pen, bent down in the coop area with a small short shovel.. 3' type with the yoke on t he top for easilly handling.. I was moving some dirt to place a landscape stone on to level out an auto waterer... had a snak strike at me in there where i had no room to maneuver.. it was a tad dark.. and he made for me.. and was between me and the door....at that point.. it was his 'time' to go.. too many bad decisions for that snake.. on the flip side.. same thing happened a few weeks ago.. I was bent down collecting eggs out of the box and a snake made for me.. no shovel with me this time.. but there was plenty of loose sand where I was nelt down.. that snake was way smarter than the last one... after 3-4 handfulls of sand in his face.. he turned and retreated back out the pen, and then thru the fence a few feet away.. he made it out...and I let him go.... I'm not ruthless towards them.. I just don't care to be bit.. poisonus or not. I imagine their mouth isn't all that clean as it is anyway..

soundguy

 

[Bird]

Snakes, according to her, have never been an issue. Hawks have been the biggest problem.

When I was growing up, we always had free range chickens and to the best of my knowledge never lost a chicken to a hawk, and while I also do not know of us ever losing one of any age to a snake, I do recall killing snakes in the laying boxes a couple of times.

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

I've killed rattlesnakes with sticks and stones (yes, they will break your bones!) shovels, hoes and guns...dead is dead and I use what I gots...