It happened again. Another snake caught stealing our eggs…
…..only upon further examination, the boys figured out that the snake didn’t eat a chicken egg….but had in fact swallowed the golf ball that was in the chicken laying box. Chicken eggs crack when squeezed….and golf balls don’t!
Since I married a man who likes non-poisonous snakes and in return has sympathetic boys, we couldn’t just let the snake die. That was my idea. They decided to squeeze the golf ball back out of the snake so it wouldn’t die. One of the most disgusting, I-can’t-believe-I-was-suckered-into-taking-these-pictures moments of my life.
It was dark outside, so the boys are holding flashlights while dad squeezes the golf ball up the snake.
The boys said it was one of the coolest things they have ever seen. The topic of conversation over supper was…yes…all the snake encounters they have had since moving to the farm.
At this point, I am saying…”It is going to bite you…I know it is….” I was assured that it wouldn’t bite—it had a large golf ball stuck in its throat.
A close up shot.
Finally, getting it out of its mouth.
A close up shot of the ball coming out of the snakes mouth. So gross.
Loud accolades of “WOW…that was so Cool!” and examination of the slimy, stinky, swallowed golf ball.
Wow…That was amazing. Amazing for the guys that is… And no, they didn’t kill the snake. They took it across the road so it could find its way to the creek. I was reminded that these are “good snakes” that eat the bad snakes. Somehow knowing that is supposed to make me happy.
Wow. That is too funny…I think I know a few boys that would’ve loved to have seen that. But I’m sure glad I wasn’t there. So…how does a snake eat your eggs and still keep it’s “good snake” status??
Well I told my husband what the pictures where while he passed by me and next thing you know all the kiddos were huddled around me going “wow! cool!”. So you have given us our excitement of the day! Thanks! : )
Miss Andrea, consider the price one might pay to keep a nice size rattlesnake out of their barn and away from their children.
So far this year we have not seen one poisonous snake here at Vaughnshire – by God’s grace and we like to think through the wise use of his creation. It seems that He made the “good snakes” (the non poisonous snakes) able to eat “bad snakes” (The deadly kind of snake). They are immune to their venom, strangle them, and eat them.
Our total loss of eggs to the non-poisonous snakes has been 3… and almost a golf ball. Of course there are a lot of variables in this equation, but if we only have to pay three eggs a summer to avoid the “bad snakes” we will pay the “good snakes” their due. After all we shouldn’t muzzle the ox… or the viper. I’m sure that last part is found in the book of second hesitations somewhere 😉
At any rate, that’s our current line of thought. It is probably not a true cause and effect analisys, but we do what we can to avoid those bad snakes with so many little ones around.
Okay, I’m fairly certain that you could have charged admission to view that spectacle! I was reading it and exclaimed, “Oh, that’s so gross!” which brought every male in the house running. Yes, they all thought it was just the coolest thing. I’m pretty sure our 5 year old will be asking for a golf ball tomorrow so that he can plant it in our own nesting boxes.
I’m wishing we would of thought to video that circus act… Charging admission–that made me laugh—yeah, probably!
Wow and yuk – wow for the biologist in me / yuk for the girl who really doesn’t care much for snakes (even the good ones)!
Blessings to you all – just catching up from afar. I have a blogspot now, but it really is tiny compared to your wonderful journal. Thanks for the update!/sc
http://www.scrosnoe.com will take you to my blog (will be in MN for the RNC meetings soon – please keep me in your prayers!)
WOW!!! That’s amazing! I think my boys would have enjoyed watching that as well! Great pictures Beth!!! 😉
I wondered how an egg-stealing snake is still a good snake too–but I can see the value of having a few king snakes around. We’ve never had snakes in the henhouse (although we’ve had just about every other kind of unwanted critter), but we’ve had them in the people house. Before our last move we lived in a century old farmhouse and copperheads nested under. ‘Good snakes’ would definitely be preferable. (So, how is the same dilemma solved when it’s a good egg-stealing dog?)
~Emily Riley
[…] know there were several folks who had doubts when I told my wife that “good snakes” eat bad snakes. But, thanks to a good friend who has a good friend who took these […]
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