Chicken Lytle and the Prisoner of the Nest Box

I went to collect eggs today and found Mr. Big standing watch by the nest box. Suspicious, I shooed out the chickens and peeked inside.

The nest box was occupied by my scaly nemesis. Calmly I squeaked, "Get the camera" to Doctor Dolittle. Thus armed, I collected evidence.

Snake, caught red-somethinged

See the bulge in the middle? That was my other ceramic egg. Last time it came to visit, it took a ceramic egg and left behind a snakeskin. Apparently this snake has a veeeeeery elastic digestive exit.

The snake seemed a little drowsy after eating De's and Vo's eggs along with my second ceramic egg. It started paying a little more attention when the flash went off. 

Face to face with creepiness

It tried to make a break for it by going out the back of the nest box through a narrow gap, but was foiled by the ceramic egg bulge. Then it tried to escape by charging toward me, making my digestive exit pucker. The snake, intimidated by my standing hair and bulging eyes, turned away and headed for the pop door.

Doc and I persuaded the snake to relax with gentle application of blunt opinions. I got the dubious honor of carrying off the limp critter on the end of a shovel.

We inspected the rest of the coop, flock, and chicks. Everybody was OK and we retired to the house for a victory meal.

Later, while Doc was watching Voldemort and his scaly friend, I slipped out to retrieve the ceramic egg. I washed it about a bazillion times and then put it back in the nest box.

Mayhem managed.


Update: A local codger gave me a couple tips on how he manages snakes around his coop. He got a 7' x 100' roll of deer netting. Then he strung up spirals of the deer netting around the chicken run, sort of like the concertina wire you see in Hollywood prison camp movies. He said the snakes get caught in the netting all the time.