Snake in the Chicken Coop!

10 Comments / coop, guns, snake / By

Yesterday morning was, shall we say, eventful, around here.  

Usually I milk Beulah while the children run around doing chores like feeding bucks, chickens, etc.Well, I was almost finished milking when Lucas came and said, in a most serious voice “Mom, I have some news.”

He had gone to feed our chicks, who had just outgrown their brooder box, and been placed in the mobile chicken coop only 2 days before, when he spotted a snake inside with a suspicious lump in its belly.
It had already eaten a chick.

You may not know this about me, but I don’t do snakes.  At all.  Like when my kids go to the zoo, they have to hope we meet friends there, because mommy is doing good to wait calmly outside the reptile house while other sweet mommies take them in.  Like I don’t go into pet stores because I think the birds are squawking  to warn me that the snakes are out.  Like I dashed out the side door at Lucas’ school field trip because the exit they were leading us out was between 2 snake tanks.  Who does that?  Shame on you Huntsville Botanical Gardens!  How about warning a girl?

Anywho, I don’t do snakes.

I also cannot just let one roam around our property eating my animals, eating my children, eating me, etc, now can I?  I’m the adult in charge during the day, so it was my job to handle it.  Lucas had opened the door to let the chicks out, and I went to the house to prepare for battle.  First, I needed my Muck Boots. *affiliate*  I feel much safer in my muck boots.

Aren’t they pretty?

Next I grabbed not one, not two, but THREE guns and I headed to the pasture.  I tried to walk close to the coop, but my phobia prevented me getting as close as might have been prudent, so instead, I went to my garden.  I feel safe there.  (Don’t worry, the coop was near the garden, at least.) I set my excess guns down on the beehive.  Bees don’t scare me, by the way.  And I set to the business at hand.  

 
This shot was taken last month, before anything was growing, but the coop is still in the same spot!
 
Warn neighbor who is standing outside.  Check.  
Yell at goat who is eating the chicken feed and blocking the shot.  Check.  
Yell at turkey who keeps sticking its head in the shot.  Check.  
Throw things at goat who won’t go away.  Check, check, check, and check.  
Ready, aim, fire.  5 rounds from my rifle.  At least 4 were hits.  Wait.  
 
The dang things starts trying to slither off!  Can I get a big southern girl “OH, HELL NO!”?  
9 shots from Grandaddy’s pistol.  (It’s a good thing the gun holds 9 shots because it isn’t accurate at all!)
One more shot from my usual sidearm, and I finally call it dead.  I would have emptied that gun too, but it is a higher caliber and I didn’t want to accidentally put any holes in my coop!  See, I can think under pressure.  Kind of.  
 
Anyway, it was a  L   O   N   G  day of waiting for Eric to get home from work.  I did all sorts of things that did not include mowing the pasture, which had been my goal for the day.  Finally Eric came home.  He pronounced the snake dead.  He also said that the first shots I fired from the rifle had been adequate.  
Whatever dude.  This crazy stuff never happens when you are home.  
 
Anyway, he disposed of the snake, but not before he gave a science lesson to the kids as they cut it open to see which chick had been eaten.  *shudder* 
 
I sure am glad that’s over.  I sure would appreciate a calm, relaxing day on the farm today.  Yeah right.  
 
On the bright side, Eric has promised me a shotgun for snake dispatching, and I’m holding him to it.  I thought about using his, but it probably would have knocked me over shooting it, and then the snake would have eaten me.  
 

Happy Weekend Everyone!

 
P.S.  No, I will not be posting pictures of it.  
P.P.S.  Don’t mess with my animals.
 
Did you enjoy this story?  Believe it or not, crazy stuff like this happens around here all. the. time.  Read all about it from the cow’s point of view with Beulah’s moooooooooosletter!
 

 
***This post may contain affiliate links.  A small percentage of the purchase price of items bought through these links goes toward helping keep this blog running and food in Beulah’s bowl, so thanks!***
 

10 thoughts on “Snake in the Chicken Coop!”

  1. MamaHen

    I tried to chop one up in our henhouse one time with a hoe. I wounded it but it managed to slink away. I usually just let me sons shoot them.

    I love your boots by the way!

  4. chicken house

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  5. Monte Turner

    So… I’ve been enjoying your adventures in dealing with nature. We are currently in the process of moving to the country and living like you live. I don’t care for snakes either…I’ve decided a tarus revolver will be strapped to my hip when I go to those areas where they might be hiding. Basically a five shot hand shotgun. Love your blog lots of good info here… that you don’t always hear about!!

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  7. Ianna

    Snakes freak me out too… and the darn things are just not that easy to kill! I had one in my goat pen a few days before Valentines Day, with kids due anytime. The bad things about snakes is that they have travel paths they prefer, so even if they are not eating (which would guarantee a return trip, by the way) they will continue to travel the areas where we see them. I could not have this in with my goats! Of course only us ladies were home. We had to remove it from the field to get a clear shot at it, so we carried it to the driveway with a really long stick. A shovel to the neck area (or whatever you call that area behind the head) only served to make it madder. In the end we had to call a neighbor to shoot it, and even then it took the guy a few shots. But like you said, at least it didn’t eat us! 😀

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