Egg eating snakes have been a problem in the past week.

Last Wednesday I caught this 6 foot Grey Rat Snake in one of the nesting boxes. I took him to the back of the property and let him go. Last seen heading away from the property. Thought it might come back but I didn’t have time to take him farther and I don’t kill friendly snakes if I don’t have to.

All was well and we were getting our normal 6 to 8 eggs a day until Monday morning. No eggs. I knew my friend must have returned. I was ready but had to find him. I found a snake behind the nesting boxes but it was much smaller. It was another rat snake, maybe 4 foot long and not nearly as thick. It also had some minor damage about 6 inches from its head. Nothing serious but it looked like it had gotten hung in some chicken wire at some point. I ran it out from behind the nesting boxes and put it in a feed sack and hauled it down the road on the way to work. That should be it. I usually get a couple of these nest raiders a year.

Tuesday, No Eggs again! Looking around I find another rat snake behind the nesting boxes on the other side of the hen house. I tried to run it out but it just found a way to get deeper into the wall so I had to let it go for the time. When I got home from work I took a light out and sure enough it was still there but this time I was able to capture it. Hopped into the truck and took it for a ride. It was another small one. 3 snakes in a week is very unusual. Hope they don’t have any friends and I can get back to collecting eggs again instead of snakes.