jmazz said:

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I second or third or whatever we're on as to the 'learn to ID' part and learn to catch/handle. Great snakes to have around.

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This. Just grab some gloves so your hands don't smell like ass and remove the snake. We've had chickens for decades. Having killed and relocated, I'm telling you killing can be a mess. Killing inside a coop is not as glorious or as easy as it seems, especially if you're the repair crew. I've shot them, stabbed them and even hacked them to death and none of this is preferable to relocating. I just toss them in a bucket and take it down the road a few miles and dump it out somewhere else.

I used to remove 7-10 snakes a year bs while they got a few eggs, the worst was the chicks. These are constrictors. They would attempt to swallow a chick hole, and when they couldn't, they'd regurgitate it and then go to another and try again. Once we had 7 dead chicks that all had wet slime up to their wings. All dead over night. :/

Maybe catch the rat snakes, and then kill tbem and skin them, then sell them to some city slicker as a new source of protein, tell them they are chicken snakes - profit! Win win for you and your chickens !

I bought some tongs and usually relocate them now too, especially the smaller ones. But I have shot plenty of them them over the years with my 9 shot H&R revolver with ratshot. Shoot 'em in the head at close range and there's no damage to the chicken house or laying box. Mine is mostly wood and you have to watch out for ricochets as the shot only seems to penetrate the snake.

cuz-i-can said:

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Have you found any .410 8-9 shot lately?

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They proud of them but here you go.

Our chickens free range around our barn. None of us are around them often enough to protect them from anything. We have 3 barn cats that seem to keep the snakes and vermin away. We also have one of those light sensitive doors that open and close to protect the chicken coop at night.

Skip any semi-autos, they wouldn't cycle properly with ratshot.

If you want to use shot, you'd be best to use a revolver. By the same, definitely do not use a silencer.

ought1ag said:

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I'd recommend any single action 22 pistol with rat shot

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This, especially for kids. We had a single shot .22 as a kid and it was a blast (no pun intended). We used them for woodpeckers on the cedar siding of the house at night. Got a dollar a bird!

chickencoupe16 said:

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Username checks out. I can't argue with that. But I'm 21% sure that's going to require a coop repair.

Buy one and I'll help you field test it.

I would not recommend having kids shooting pistols with rat shot - especially inside a chicken coop. Too high of a possibility of an accident, even if its just pellets ricocheting and putting an eye out.

Bonfire97 said:

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I would not recommend having kids shooting pistols with rat shot - especially inside a chicken coop. Too high of a possibility of an accident, even if its just pellets ricocheting and putting an eye out.

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Hell I get spooked just with subsonic 22's… I swear I can hear those things bouncing back at me sometimes

Having kids handle rat snakes is infinitely safer than having them handle a firearm shooting at rat snakes by themselves.

Seriously, I was handling snakes when I was 5-6.

Have them wear gloves or use a snake hook. If you don't have a snake hook, you can make one out of a coat hanger, old gold club, etc.

If I had kids, I'd have them let me know when they saw a snake, and then show them how to safely handle one. I've handled tons of venomous snakes, and never gotten close to getting bitten, because I use tools. I've handled even more non-venomous snakes, and only gotten bitten once or twice when I did something stupid (because I knew they couldn't kill me).

Man, I'd be on board with you, but I once had one of those rat snakes curl up in a rubber boot I had sitting on the front porch. I put the boot on and instantly knew what had happened. After that little episode, they all get a hoe put to them.

Gunny456 said:

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On my 8th Birthday my dad got me a High Standard "Double Nine" .22 revolver like this. He bought it for $45.00 at Western Auto.
A box of 50 .22 Long Rifle was 25 cents.
He also had a Hispanic man in SA make me a holster for it.
We lived in the country and our nearest neighbor was over a mile away. Dad was a cop and had me shooting a .22 single shot rifle at six. I was allowed to go out and shoot around the fields and barns at seven.
I still have the gun and the box it came in. (Not this picture)
It was a different time.

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I've got one of those in my safe right now. Got mine from my dad. It's fun to plink with.

I have my dad's Double Nine too.

Lucky it wasn't a scorpion.. Note: Don't leave your boots on the porch..

In my experience, it's much easier to kill a snake with a long handle shovel than any firearm…. Especially a pistol…. But I'd still use this as a reason to buy another gun.

Chetos said:

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Glad I'm not the only smart-*** who thought of answering like this.

My favorite cousin got bit on the calf trying to kill a diamondback with a shovel when we were 14. That's when I figured shotguns or a revolver with shot became my standard equipment for killing snakes.

Gunny456 said:

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My favorite cousin got bit on the calf trying to kill a diamondback with a shovel when we were 14. That's when I figured shotguns or a revolver with shot became my standard equipment for killing snakes.

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No, doubt….i only use that method with the non venomous snakes that still look scary like a rat snake. You know the ones we are not supposed to kill.

Of course My checkered gartners and hog nose snakes always get a free pass.

Yea My cousin was truly my best buddy. We did everything together. Sadly he passed from a heart attack at 46….never been sick hardly a day in his life and ran 4 miles every morning and not an ounce of fat.
He and his dad found the rattlesnake in their barn. He grabbed a shovel but the snake came right at him ( unlike they always saying they will leave you alone if given a chance). He missed him and the damn thing got him.
They were very rural and he got bad sick. Lost a lot of muscle in his leg. This was in the 60's.
You talk about a guy scared of snakes after that… Holy Moly.

I've had a few rattlers come after me. It's not common, but some are grouchy.

Wife and I had been out for an evening ride in our jeep on the ranch by Harper. The sun had set but plenty of light and we were not far from our house on a ranch trail when we see the typical raised "coon tail" and rattles of a diamondback crossing the road. He was easily 5' long and he was moving fairly fast.
Like an idiot we did not have any firearm in the jeep so I jumped out and told the wife to haul butt to the house and grab a gun while I kept the snake busy.
Typically if you can throw a rock close to them they will coil up and try to go into defense mode.
There were some little cedars and taller grass where he was headed so I grabbed a rock and took out behind him. Threw the rock and that guy turned around and came right back at me in a cobra like head high attitude very quickly. Totally taken by surprise I did the most natural thing….ran like hell looking over my shoulder.
To this day I have no idea where he went but no way was I going back in the brush to find him.
My hearing is shot and with loud tinnitus no way I could hear him rattle if he did warn me.
Wife came back with her pistol but it was dark enough I wasn't going to chance it.
We made it a pac to never ride without a gun again.

I wear snake boots year round more for thorns, but basically for same reason. Last encounter I had the snake was maybe 2 1/2' long and getting after the rattling. I looked down and it was maybe a foot from my foot. Never heard a thing.

That one did not charge but a few have.

Not all rattlesnakes are aggressive. Most are super chill, and don't coil up until you mess with them. The older, the longer (usually) it takes to make them coil up. I stepped on one leading a hike in Austin. Lady screamed. I looked behind me. Snake keeps on slithering off of the road. It was a big one - probably 4-5'. They waited, and then walked around it. Found another one in some bluebonnets. Would have stepped on it had I not noticed it.

All of the ones I've ever encountered have been super chill and not aggressive at all.