Chicken Snake, Port-a-Potties, sorry, couldn't help myself. some may not want to read

[dirtlooter]

Just a few minutes ago, we were unloading some boxes to use for loading things to be moved from our home. It was nearly dark and out from under the truck a very large chicken snake crawled out and put my wife on the truck. I could easily see that it was a chicken snake and the elderly owners of this campground had been having problems with their eggs disappearing via a snake. If it had been a blueracer, a kingsnake or any other non-poisonous snake, I would have moved it on. It was right at 5 ft long and had my wife's full attention as she demanded for me to "take care of it, right now!"

But it was a chicken snake and so it paid the price with one whack behind it's head, it was pretty much done for. So, I was informed to get it out of the area so I moved it down below the house to the gravel road that led to the pond. It was also within yards of a couple pf port-a-potties. So, sometime tonight or in the morning, someone will find it and it will get "killed" again. I got to thinking about it for a thread and sent my wife down to get a pic of it. Well, she could see that it was still moving around and so I had to come down and make sure that it was dead again for her. She was going to go under the house in the next day or so and it would have caused her to hurt herself to say the least.

The place is full of out of state campers with their ATVs so it will be found soon enough. Now, it is past the potty about ten yards so it won't be causing any undo stress on a camper in a hurry but it will be easily seen by anyone heading towards the pond or the ATV trail. might be interesting in the morning but the owners will be happy. Years ago, I would have placed it at the front of the potties or inside but I have gotten more mellow in my older age,well, kind of anyways. DL Sorry, couldn't get the potties to be right side up

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Never heard of a "chicken snake". We get rat snakes, milk snakes, corn snakes, brown snakes, garter snakes, green snakes , etc. and I like them around the chicken coops because they eat mice and rats. Have to be a pretty damn big snake to eat a chicken! The head would have to be 6" wide! Nothing like that hereabouts.

But I just went out our back door to close up the barn and chicken coops and a skunk was 3 feet away from the door when I stepped out. Since I had already slammed the cellar door I spoke calmly and kept moving away and he/she turned and ambled off the other direction.

Does get your blood circulating to hear a noise and look down at a skunk three feet away!

 

[dirtlooter]

Never heard of a "chicken snake". We get rat snakes, milk snakes, corn snakes, brown snakes, garter snakes, green snakes , etc. and I like them around the chicken coops because they eat mice and rats. Have to be a pretty damn big snake to eat a chicken! The head would have to be 6" wide! Nothing like that hereabouts.

But I just went out our back door to close up the barn and chicken coops and a skunk was 3 feet away from the door when I stepped out. Since I had already slammed the cellar door I spoke calmly and kept moving away and he/she turned and ambled off the other direction.

Does get your blood circulating to hear a noise and look down at a skunk three feet away!

chicken snakes, black topside with a with underside (sometimes speckled belly). They have a subtle pattern that can be very hard to see. They are big time egg eaters, and nest raiders, eating eggs, young everything they can catch. My grandfather hated them and would use the old white door knobs and or light bulbs to catch/kill them. the bulbs would eventually break inside the snake or they would break them as they tried to get out the tight spot that they got in thru. The knob would prevent them from getting out and they would kill the snake then place the white knob back into the nest for the next snake. They are very fast climbers and can be very rough on your songbirds. they can be repeat offenders unless you do something. The owners had an electric fence that got several but then he had other problems with an electrical source.

 

[Keith Jackson]

I thought for sure that this story was going to involve dropping the snake into the Porta-pottie.

 

[pa plateau hiker]

Your description of the chicken snake sounds like it is a rat snake. Maybe you call them chicken snakes in your part of the world, here we call them black rat snakes.

 

[Bama Billy]

Never heard of a "chicken snake". We get rat snakes, milk snakes, corn snakes, brown snakes, garter snakes, green snakes , etc. and I like them around the chicken coops because they eat mice and rats. Have to be a pretty damn big snake to eat a chicken! The head would have to be 6" wide! Nothing like that hereabouts.

But I just went out our back door to close up the barn and chicken coops and a skunk was 3 feet away from the door when I stepped out. Since I had already slammed the cellar door I spoke calmly and kept moving away and he/she turned and ambled off the other direction.

Does get your blood circulating to hear a noise and look down at a skunk three feet away!

Chicken snakes are the same thing as a rat snake