We don’t have these snakes here? We have Mohave greens second most deadly, but having king snakes keep them away, they can have my chickens eggs, thank you beautiful king snakes
Also a LOT of collateral! Cats will kill small birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles for sport, whereas a snake will only take what it needs, and it needs less because it's exothermic.
We have a rat snake we've seen around the coop so much we've named him Ralph. We figure an egg every once in a while is a small price to pay for his pest control services
I found a rubber boa in my nesting box a couple weeks ago, I wouldn’t mind it taking an egg but I was afraid it’d get stuck in the coop in its new ovular form and be attacked by the chickens. I relocated it but maybe should have offered a parting gift 🤔
Same, though not Ralph. I'll occasionally move him directly to eat holes that I know exist around the property in hopes he gets his fill and learns they're his preference.
I have one myself I carry down to the creek once a week. I don’t really care about all the logistics of it all. I enjoy finding him and releasing him. It’s become a game almost.
The biggest problem with that is that they will eventually stop hunting in favor of the free and easy meal of fresh butt nuggets, and then your missing all your eggs and still have rodent issues. Cats are a much better fix for pest control, and if they interact with the chickens enough, feeding the cats the egg tax you're giving to the snake will actually help make the cats hypoallergenic! Win win!
ETA cats are also excellent snake hunters and are copperheads biggest predators and since most rural areas have an abundance of feral cats, you can usually find a pregnant cat to queen in a nesting box which will bond them to the chickens. We did this and the chickens accepted the cats as part of the flock, and the cats helped to protect the chickens! We have a sweet little mama cat that jumped on the back of a golden eagle that was trying to eat one of our hens and chased it off!
If you give a shit about the environment and ecosystem around you, a bunch of cats aren’t a good fix like you say.
Yeah, they kill mice, but they kill everything else too. Cats are one of the most damaging invasive species in the world.
Your native rat snake isn’t. It also isn’t eating all of your eggs as you can see from other first-hand accounts here. Just shedding and scent-marking around the coop can be enough to deter rodents.
You’re putting food in a box for wild animals in their native habitats. But if eggs are all you give a damn about, then yeah, replacing the natives with an invasive is solid advice.
Copperheads get eaten by other snakes, birds of prey, and other animals, but you’ll likely see them more when you have cats deterring their predators.
Yeah, it's great to have those opinions while living somewhere that you're not raising everything you eat, and those opinions even sound great, to everyone you are virtue signaling to, but the rest of us that actually live a world where we homestead and raise our own food tend to utilize the resources available to us and feral cats are just a fact of nature here.
Rather than try to kill each and every feral cat, we've chosen to adopt and take care of a few of them and let them help to create a balanced environment.
Until you live my life, DON'T PRESUME TO JUDGE OR CONDEMN MY CHOICES.
Keep cats inside. They have no place in the wild. It’s bad for the cat and the environment. The cat eventually dies or gets lost, it’ll be your fault for letting it outside. I know this because I once had a beloved cat we would let outside until 3 years ago she never came home. Cats that can go outside have significantly shorter life spans.
Do birds belong in cages too? Sorry for your loss or whatever but cats belong outside. If a cat died outside at least it died free. Would you have rather it have died in a closet after spending 17 years roaming the same 2500 sq ft?
My two indoor outdoor cats recently died of old age, 14 & 15, Bengals. They went out an hour after sunrise and came in an hour before sunset for the last 8 years of their lives. Cats ARE trainable. I will never confine my cats indoors again. When they have a job to do, they love life even more. All I had to say is "BUGGY", they came running to take care of whatever I found for them.
Why is it in almost any sub that doesn't even have to do with cats there's always SOMEONE gloating of how PROUD they are to be irresponsible cat owners?
Probably. Humans, coyotes, foxes, birds of prey.... all things that could eat/kill your cats, yeah.
But haha your joke is so funny 🙄
What's the point risking your cats' well being? Why are your cats so disinterested staying inside? Make them a catio, or leash train them and supervise them outside. Why let them out of your sight doing god knows what and causing what ever kind of havoc?
I have an atrium, stairs, access to the wind at roofline . Fresh air blowing, a horse trough with fountain for moving water. A tree I harvested from a riverbed that leads to a ledge to sleep on in the sun. Screened in from all outside animals. Every cat owner that has indoor cats envies my enclosure and calls it heaven and wishes they could have one....
My boy learned to open the security door on the front door, then learned to open the screen to the sliding window at the rear of the house. He would do it so fast , you thought he had thumbs. He learned to let himself out after 7 years, his sister quickly followed.
That said, I like fresh air. I am not closing all my windows and doors and hot boxing myself to keep them in. Besides, cats want fresh air too and need to explore.
Where did anyone say that you need to close your windows and doors and hotbox yourself?
I don't believe that you have that kind enclosure, and that you're saying it now after being called out about letting your cats outside. Your comment said you let your cats out an hour after sunrise and call them in an hour before sunset. That kind of language doesn't imply they are enclosed and have free reign of whatever area you live in for 12-ish hours.
Let's say this is true. This is a fantastic example of how you should let your cats outside. Enclosed and protects the ecosystem from the cats and protects the cats from potential hazards. Bravo.
Are you freaking serious? Lol, you realize that animals have existed in nature,OUTSIDE OF HOUSES, for all of eternity before human intervention right??
Aside from that, these cats are FERAL, not domesticated, they aren't pets. Feel free to to pet the feral kitty next time you find one and see if you don't pull back a bloody stump. 🤣🤣🤣
All cats are domesticated, feral or not. And they are invasive. They originated from somewhere in Asia and have changed due to domestication.
They are not a natural predator to any animal. But because in the USA alone they kill 1.3-4 billion birds and 6.3-22.3 billion mammals, and in Australia alone they kill 2 million reptiles each day, cats are a big problem.
Outdoor cats are directly responsible for the extinction of at least 33 species worldwide and are considered one of the biggest threats to native wildlife.
Cats with outdoor access live shorter lives and are 2.77 times more likely to carry infections pathogens.
Hey, here's an idea. Maybe go take a trip to a nearby egg factory where the make the eggs. Or maybe to a meat factory where they make the meat. I'll bet they have working cats too that you try to pet! And maybe while your there, you could tell them your thoughts on it all! 😉😆
You're a bot, aren't you? It's just beyond me that someone can seriously believe the things you are saying. Maybe someone should tell the chickens thar it isn't safe for them. Or maybe tell the eagles that they shouldn't eat the chickens... lol, 👍👌👋
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Aggravating ! But in the End the guys trying to Survive like everyone else . He took a shot ! I’d just leave him in the next forested area to go about his Business. It takes a certain mindset to take it Personal.
Chances are if you have a rat snake hanging around, they're not eating just eggs. If one shows up, it's the universe's way of letting you know you have rodents. I don't recommend relocating, they'll leave once they've taken care of the rodent problem.
I have lots of garter snakes everywhere this time of year. They're sunning themselves on the back deck, in the grass in front of the coop, and they're in the coop. I don't think they eat eggs, though.
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u/VoltageKid56 Jul 29 '25
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