I recently inherited a chicken coop & small flock from a friend that had to give them up. They've got a big-ass yard to forage in with lots of grass, tree cover, and all the pumpkin plants they can destroy because i wasnt planning on having chickens when i planted them. Still learning birdcare, but half of them have learned to love headpets and are as fat & happy as I can keep them.
However they've also attracted rat snakes & racer snakes to the coop. None of the snakes in my area are big enough to eat a full grown chicken, but it's stressing the chickens out and they keep trying to eat the eggs.
I dont wanna hurt any of the snakes, they're adorable and dopey, but im grabbing a 4 foot frightened snake out of the coop everynight. I keep sealing up new gaps and they keep showing me new ones. Its getting kinda old & I'm starting to wonder if its a different snake every night or just a few really persistent lil guys.
Is there a way to get them to fuck off? And how do biologists tag snakes? Is there like, a little thing i can clip into a scale or is it safe to hit them with a dab of paint or something? Cause if its just the same 2 dumbasses i keep greeting everynight i can just drive them to a nearby lake what i imagine snake heaven would be.
Make sure it isn't poisonous so you can grab it. Wear gloves and grab it close to the head because it will turn around and bite you. Even if it isn't venomous the bites hurt and draw blood so grab close to head, don't worry about choking it. Run far far away and throw it into a field or a box then driving far away and release it
Thankfully everything in my area is readily identifiable, and i've got some experience snake wrangling. All the snakes i've seen are both slow enough and cowardly enough i haven't had any trouble so far grabbing them or picking them up with a stick.
The gloves are a really good idea though. ๐