It did get really loud at our place. I think it was mostly noise coming from me, though there was sound everywhere.
Natalie sicced the dog and came running to help. Graham grabbed Ranger and pulled him back in the house, he wanted to keep him safe. Chris came running from the garage, wielding the simplest weapon, a shovel, and took care of the problem...
A BLACK SNAKE coiled in the corner of the coop!
Which had just eaten an egg and tried to unsuccessfully swallow a chick.
And I had just TOUCHED the thing by accident.
Poor chick.
I had gone in the coop just before dark, to count chickens and gather eggs. It was too dark, so I brought the flashlight back from the house and propped it in a laying basket. The coop was loud, as it always is at bedtime, with hens jockeying for roost position and ducks settling in. Tonight, the month-old juvenile chicks were piled up against the door and even up in the nesting baskets. It was shadowy down below the baskets, and I grabbed for one of the chicks nestled in the duck area.
My middle and index fingers touched it first, and instead of feeling the soft, warm fluff of baby feathers, it was cool-ish, smooth, and unyielding.
What the?
I grabbed the flashlight from above and....
Coiled up, it stuck it's tongue out at me and froze. Noise came from everywhere. I
And that brings us back to the frightened children, husband with a shovel, and problem solved. I really do hate to have to kill a nonvenomous "good" snake. Snakes are only good though until they hurt someone or something you care about, no matter their benefit otherwise.
Egg in it's belly
You may have seen bigger, but this is big enough for me!
Everyone is calm now, tucked in their beds, roosts, and baskets. Bedtime prayers of thanks and requests for no more snakes have all been said. All is well that ends well!
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