A pretador in the henhouse

[Farrier1987]

Also a neat bit of anatomy. Look at the size of the head and the size of the bulge from the egg inside. Their jaws unhinge to go around the egg and then go back when its time. Also, not the bulge very egg like in the first pics, and later on not so much. Their digestive acids are very strong and attach the egg shell, then it breaks and they regurgitate the shell pieces. Rather interesting really, and lucky to get pics from before and after.

Also, not sure if that was his first egg yesterday but I have gone from 5 or so to one yesterday. Two today. I am wondering if excitement such as this puts the bunch off laying, or its the weather and Friday the 13th and karma all lined up right.

[TomK]

That is one beautiful snake....kudos for tolerating it's presence...not the easiest thing to do, truly....i came across a quite large Milk snake yesterday, dead on the gravel road near my place...right in the middle of the lane...i was inwardly angry instantly...it had to have been run over purposely given its position on the roadway...I am not surprised, just angered..the ignorance of the general public is never a surprise to ma anymore...

[windwalkingwolf]

@TomK my mother has almost caused serious accidents, swerving last second to avoid wooly bear caterpillars in the road...but if she sees a snake, she will swerve to run it over, back up, run over it again a couple times "to make sure it's not suffering", crying and panicking the whole time, then go out of her way to take the car through a car wash just in case there are snakes or snake bits stuck to the car.
Don't be like Mom, folks. Phobias are treatable

[kenya]

I've had garter snakes in the barn but nothing that size. I would be none too thrilled to see that snake in the barn. I wouldn't kill it but I would want it out of there pronto.. I wouldn't even know what kind of snake it was, have only seen garters and corn snakes.

[kenya]

Did it try to bite you at all when you handled it?

[KimChick]

Time to put up some 1/2" metal fabric around and on top of the enclosure?
On our property, I have only seen garter snakes. Elsewhere in the area, there are black rat snakes.

[Farrier1987]

No Kenya, it did not bite me. It might, but it wasn't its usual self with that egg there. They will vibrate their tales imitating a raddle snake.

And I am putting up no metal fabric or blockage stuff. I am fairly cold blooded, and that is why chickens lay lots of eggs and have lots of babies, because they don't all make it. Mine run wild during the day and are locked up at night if they choose to come in at dark. I know there are other methods and preferences, but for me and mine, they live free for longer than most, even if the years are somewhat shorter. All that said, I don't think I have lost anything to a predator in a couple years. Well, a few eggs, and a few that never came home, but relatively small mortality rate.

[muffin57]

I feel like some others on here in that I would freak if that was in my chicken coop. I only have seen garter and water snakes and not in my coop.

[KimChick]

Last night, we lost 2 hens to a raccoon break in. It is doubly sad because it got 2 of the youngest hens. If it got one of the original, older Frey's DP Slow Growth meat hens that don't lay very often anymore, it would have been a tad less saddening.

[Jaye]

Sorry to hear, @KimChick . It's so sad when you lose them to predators, whether they are a favourite or not.