Black Rat Snake in the Henhouse (Blog 296)

Yesterday evening, Elaine and I received a phone call from our daughter Sarah, who lives across the hollow from us with her husband David and their two boys. Sarah said that a huge snake was in the main nesting box of the henhouse, and that David was out walking.

Elaine and I hurried over, and Sarah's depiction of the snake was not hyperbole.  The black rat snake was  over six feet long (David later held it up for measuring purposes) and the reptile had stuffed itself with eggs, which were slowly making their way down the snake's body.

When David returned from his walk, he and I experienced an "interesting" time extracting the snake from the henhouse, using a combination of hoes, rakes, and shovels to do so.

It's been an interesting time the last 10 days or so out in our rural Virginia hollow.  Last week, we watched as a copperhead consumed a chipmunk while in our driveway and now the henhouse episode.  Soon to come, no doubt, will be the annual visitation of skinks slinking into our house, and, maybe, like one summer, a flying squirrel coming down the chimney.