persephone Posted November 2, 2014 Share Posted November 2, 2014 Steve! YOIKS. One thing - To the best of my knowledge , snakes can't dig . They use mouseholes , mostly . Some may make a 'hollow' in loose sand .. but AFAIK, that's it. our aviary has snake proof mesh ... ,and provided I keep mouse holes in the soil filled ... we have no problem , thankfully . Yep might be following mouse holes - Ill get someone onto making sure mouse holes are spotted and filled in but Id never trust anyone or any system for being sure they arent here - never let the guard down. it's a never ending job - I know . I guess the maremmas have some protection with all that coat , thankfully . Stay safe! The Maremmas spot them a mile away and nip in pick em up and sort of crack em. Awesome but scary to watch. We have learned to not distract them and stay back .Last year one was tossed into the side of the shed and was dead in 2 seconds - no matter how much I complain about that bitch shedding on me and barking when I want her to shut up and not doing a thing she is told Ill ever be without one at my side. Impressive! Good work :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted November 2, 2014 Share Posted November 2, 2014 Yeah but I would rather they just yelled and said 'look out ' rather than going in - id hate for them to get pinged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VizslaMomma Posted November 2, 2014 Share Posted November 2, 2014 Really all you can do is make your yard unattractive to snakes or totally barricade them out. You can physically keep snakes out of your house yard by ensuring that all gates and fences there are snake proof AND kept closed - but snake proofing a gate is not always an easy task. Don't forget they can climb and slide through the smallest gaps - you may have the perfect fences and gates and they enter the yard by travelling under the house... Friend living in Central West NSW dug a trench around their perimeter. Put lime down to prevent snakes. ( or so they thought). They still had a few. They are forever vigilant as they are a fair distance from Vet or hosptial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheena Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 There are some ideas on snake-proofing your yard (with pics) here at this fencing company's site. Using their products of course, but the general idea is pretty much the same no matter what products you buy. Guinea fowl will sometimes mob a snake, and will always create a hullaballoo when they spot one, but that just tends to attract the dogs to see what they are on about - and sometimes they will mob your chooks or small pets as well, so they are not suited for everyone LOL. I'm waiting for trained kookaburras to come on the market for snake patrol! We had a pair of guinea fowl once & the noise they constantly made, drove me so crazy that I packed my bags & left home. I refused to come back until hubby found a new home for them far away from me. The male was also aggressive to the dogs, from memory. What worries me about "snake proofing" the yard, is that IF a snake did find a way in, then he would be a very aggressive sitting duck while trying to find his way out with two dogs on his tail. Also if a snake managed to get his head through then got stuck...it would be goodbye doggie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tintin Jac Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 where on the Mornington Peninsula? I'm moving down there in four days! Hazy, there was a snake found in the grounds of my children's school last week in Moorooduc. It's rural there so more suited to snakes to where you are going but they're still around. Apparently it was a copperhead. I'm not that up on snake varieties bit I hadn't heard of them around here before. I'm with you, Sheena about guinea fowl. Their whole day revolves around making a hullabaloo! Pretty but soooooo noisy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perrin Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 We lost our Kelpie to a snake bite and one also got our cat whilst she was in the cat house. Fortunately Curly survived. Just have to be vigilant and give them a wide berth. We try and keep the grass short around the house and the bushes trimmed off the ground but as we have a large dam and an abundance of frogs they will always be around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheena Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 I wonder where I could get a few of these guys from Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Too cute, but super deadly to snakes... *grin* T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheena Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 I just went to collect my eggs & there is a giant carpet snake asleep in the chook pen Is he going to try & eat my hens ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DobieMum Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Should leave your hens, but he'll be after the eggs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Wildthing Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Think they'd eat the eggs, but not sure about the chickens! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheena Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 (edited) Should leave your hens, but he'll be after the eggs. What can I do about him...OH has gone fishing (he'd know what to do) I certainly don't fancy grabbing hold of that giant head & trying to stuff him in a bag....even if I could get him in a bag...I wouldn't know what to do with him then Are they only active at night Edited November 4, 2014 by sheena Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 I just went to collect my eggs & there is a giant carpet snake asleep in the chook pen Is he going to try & eat my hens ?? if he is large enough , he may do . eggs will be acceptable . I suggest you python proof your chook pen ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 (edited) Should leave your hens, but he'll be after the eggs. What can I do about him...OH has gone fishing (he'd know what to do) I certainly don't fancy grabbing hold of that giant head & trying to stuff him in a bag....even if I could get him in a bag...I wouldn't know what to do with him then Are they only active at night if you have a nice clean plastic garbage bin ... (or a chaff bag or even a doona cover ;) ) lay it down in front of him - and use a broom or something to get him to crawl in? put lid on. (or cover with shadecloth so snake doesn't overheat/suffocate and quickly relocate ;) I have done this with brown snakes ..so a carpet snake 'should' be less problematic Edited November 4, 2014 by persephone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheena Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Thanks Pers....I just gave it a go & the rotten thing gave me the evil eye & slithered out through a tiny hole in the corner. He is now in the tops of the tall bushes beside the chook pen, terrorising all the birds Why do the guys have to go fishing when things like this happen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Thanks Pers....I just gave it a go & the rotten thing gave me the evil eye & slithered out through a tiny hole in the corner. He is now in the tops of the tall bushes beside the chook pen, terrorising all the birds Why do the guys have to go fishing when things like this happen Something for OH to do now then - roof the pen /block the holes . problem is , if a snake gets in- has a BIG feed .. they often can't get out of the small holes again ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animal House Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 I just went to collect my eggs & there is a giant carpet snake asleep in the chook pen Is he going to try & eat my hens ?? Should leave your hens, but he'll be after the eggs. Carpet pythons usually eat rodents, and the larger ones will definitely eat chickens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheena Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 I just went to collect my eggs & there is a giant carpet snake asleep in the chook pen Is he going to try & eat my hens ?? Should leave your hens, but he'll be after the eggs. Carpet pythons usually eat rodents, and the larger ones will definitely eat chickens. He is about 8 feet...the same length as the chook pen. I had a tackle with him & got him into a container a few times but he was too quick....in the end he started having a go at me (I don't blame him)...so I have left him be (up in the trees) We have been here for well over 25 years & never had one in our chook pen before, so hopefully he is just eating the rats. The neighbours had one which killed a chook & they relocated him 1.5 kilometers away & he was back the next night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VizslaMomma Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 (edited) I just went to collect my eggs & there is a giant carpet snake asleep in the chook pen Is he going to try & eat my hens ?? They tend to go for anything Edited November 4, 2014 by VizslaMomma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuralPug Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Is there a snake relocator in your region? Most will come out and catch and relocate without charge. Ask around your friends or a local facebook page... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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