Okay, today was the day that I decided it was either me or the snake. As I reported last night, there has been a rash of broken eggs out in the coop, and I really had not fully thought it through to even consider that the snake (that I had been totally tolerant and non-threatening to) could be the responsible party. This morning, I was out in the barn cleaning the little chicks coop and giving them fresh food and water, and I opened the door to the big girls coop to add some grass to the nesting box, and there was the freakin' snake all coiled up as happy as you please in one of the nesting boxes. Not only that, but (as you can see from the obvious bulge in it) it had just consumed SOMETHING out of the nest. I went up to the house to get my camera (need to document my own possible demise) and tell Jody there was gonna be a dead snake soon. I really did not want to kill the snake, but I had been pushed to my limits.SO...I grabbed a pair of lopping shears and grabbed hold of the snake. The lopping shears did not make the snake into two parts, but it gave me a good grip on it. I took it out in the yard and went back into the barn to get a hoe, with which I could STILL NOT chop it into pieces. Next up was a box-blade, and I was able to chop it up into two or three parts, and even then it was still wriggling around. Since it had the egg inside it, I took the hoe and tried to crush the egg (now I was just experimenting) and it would not break, which told me it had eaten one of the wooden nest eggs. I got the box-blade and (without further sterilization) made a couple incisions close to the bulge, and began to squeeze. I retrieved the golf ball that we had also been using as a nest egg. SO, I retrieved the golf ball, washed it off and put it back in the nesting box. The snake was unceremoniously disposed of. If you would like to see photos of 'snake parts' just let me know and I will forward them on to you.
No more Mr. Nice-Guy with the snakes!
And then I went to show property. Kind of anti-climatic after that start to the day...
Deeds, Actions, Changes, BARN-YARD-SURGERY, Kindnesses (well...), Whirled Peas, FUN!
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