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snake in compost
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Author:  Debby [ Wed Mar 24, 2004 3:47 pm ]
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Well no snake is going to get to live in my compost pile. And i did catch one in a sticky trap at my lake cabin and it was the worst experience of my life. My throat was sore for days from screaming. I can't see any way of getting a snake off a sticky trap so if you like them you better find another way of moving them. And fire ants don't get to live in my yard or pile either!!!! This year i am going to let the soldier fly larve live, I'm not all bad.
Author:  BlackForestComposter [ Mon May 31, 2004 6:14 pm ]
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Debby,I don't think you were a millionth as scared as the poor snake was. What happened to it? (on second thoughts,never mind,don't tell me).
Snakes are good. Unless they're poisonous of course. I would love to have small snakes in my compost.
Author:  Debby [ Mon May 31, 2004 6:51 pm ]
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Well it's a good thing you don't want to know what happened to that snake!! I do have a chx snake in my railroad ties that are a retaining wall. I have decided it could live even though I suspect it killed the baby birds in my rose bush. But i have told all the roadrunners where the snake lives. Don't they like snakes?
Author:  Tony M* [ Mon May 31, 2004 9:18 pm ]
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Here's another confession from what you could generally call a nature lover.
I have chickens and raise eggs for our organic food co-op. Last year I started taking rat snakes out of my nest boxes and relocating them. I lost a few eggs but so what. The barn cats tend to the mice so the snakes had little but our eggs to eat.
Late last summer I had a chicken starting to set on a group of 9 eggs. We've had chickens for 2 years and have never had one try to hatch out eggs. The term is called "go broody". The people who raise chicks nowadays have bread that trait right out of the stock.
After about 15 days into a 21 day incubation period, the eggs started to disappear. I suspected a snake but could never find it. I devised a screen to go over the front of the nest box, which would prevent a snake from entering. However, the chicken couldn't get out either so I had to be vigilant to her needs. For whatever reason she left the nest box and we didn't get any chicks.
A couple of days ago I noticed another hen go broody on 11 eggs. We just had 5 baby goats and were looking forward for some baby chicks to join them. As I was entering the milk room I saw a large rat snake in the corner. I tried to catch it but it was very aggressive and tried to bite every time I got near it.
My recent thought of baby chicks was fresh in my mine and I ended up killing the snake before it escaped. The snake was 6 feet long. This was a tough decision and I'm looking for a tool used for handling snakes so I don't have to do this again. I know what tool to get I just have to get out and buy it.
Sad Tony M
Author:  Mr. Clean [ Tue Jun 01, 2004 9:24 pm ]
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Well, well...This must be the week for snakes and compost. This afternoon I happened upon a snake about 2 1/2' - 3' long headed for my compost pile. Living in close proximity to the lake I wanted to verify that it wasn't a wayward Cottonmouth. I was just able to confirm (I think) that it did not have the classic pit viper shaped head. The body coloring was also a bit too light. It was a banded (not coral snake like) but that was the best I could do. My snake identification skills are a bit rusty, I'm thinking some variety of rat snake or possibly a bull snake?

Oh well, it will be a couple of days before I will be adding to the compost, he (or was it a she?) may have moved on by then. If not, we will both get a closer look at each other.

Tony M,

Nature lover or not, when a snake becomes a pest to your other venture (egg raising) then the offender must be either relocated or at times (unfortunately) dispatched. Even though we are the real interlopers :wink:
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