Monday, July 8, 2013

S-S-S-SNAKE!

*I started thinking about my blog yesterday, and how I've taken an unintentional break. I'm sorry!!    I promise I'll be back very soon. So many things going on at the moment. Happy things, sad things, you name it, it has been here!! Anyway, I discovered this morning I started this post a week or so ago, but never got it posted.*



Friday evening I was chatting on the phone with my BFF, when Danny comes in from heading to our bunny barn to feed.

"Where is Tristen's pellet gun?" he asked.

"No idea...why??"

"Because there is a big ass snake in a nest box."

Blahhhhhh.

After Jacob and Danny frantically ran around looking for pellets, I chased them out to the barn, staying about 10 steps behind, with my ears plugged. I have no idea why...its just what I do when I am frazzled.

This beast was over 4 feet long. And had eaten *2* 3 week old baby standard chins. For those that don't know..at that age they are pretty much just little versions of the adults, hopping around, speeding around the cage, eating pellets..Another words..they are BIG!  Danny had left the nest box in because were a bit late leaving the box. So...this snake would have had to try really hard to get one down..he managed 2!

 DSCF0720


He was curled up in the nest box, like a python you see at the zoo. The babies were all huddled in the corner, and the mom was just ready for Danny to feed her...we are questioning her mothering skills.HAHA She didn't seem to mind the snake at all or seemed to care that he had just devoured 2 of her young.

I was impressed. Danny managed to shoot him 3 times, with baby bunnies running around excitedly, and he never hit anything other than the snake. 

We are pretty sure he had been in there a while, maybe since early that morning. He ate, and then couldn't get out of the cage because of his full belly.  Apparently, he must have gotten bored and decided to eat some more.

Through all of our summers of raising rabbits, this is the first snake we have ever had. And I am just REALLY happy it didn't happen last week when we were gone and had friends taking care of them. We probably would have never gotten them to come back!

And let me tell you...you have ALL been a little more cautious reaching into cages right now! ;)




2 comments:

Melanie said...

Oh my GOSH!! That IS a beast!! Ick!! Glad you got it. .was it a bull snake?? We have had to pull our handy little snake reference out twice this summer to ID snakes we have seen in the yard!! Thankfully no rattlers though! Yay! I'll bet there will be double looks done in those cages for a while to come!

Sara said...

Holy SMOKES!! Snakes are just vile...at least I think so. Jeremy's parents have a HUGE bullsnake that is roaming the property and I am always so scared it is going to come out of the weeds or from under a bush and make me have a wreck on the mower haha!! Glad Danny got it before any more bunnies were eaten!