Surprise In My Hen Nest

Did not get all of him in the picture.  He was at least 6 feet long!

For about 3 weeks, most of my Banties have been laying their eggs just on the chicken house floor.  The big red hens have always done this some.  So of late, nearly all my eggs are just in the dirt of the hen house.  Well, Friday, when I went to get my eggs, I had a surprise in the nest.  He filled it up!  I few of my hens had laid eggs there and he was curled up with the eggs.  Luckily, Larry was on the back porch.  I called to him "snake" and he came with a hoe.  I thought "wish you had got the gun".  By the time Larry got to the hen house, the Black Rat Snake had moved from the nest.  Larry pounded around with the hoe.  Vibration will often make a snake move.  He could not locate him and went back to the porch.  I went in the hen house to get the eggs off the floor of the house and I could see him.  He had crawled into another nest that I had blocked with a bucket.  I like the hens just to lay in a few nests and I had that one blocked with a plastic laundry bucket.  Larry came back with the gun and make fast work of Mr. Rat Snake!  I am glad he is gone.  Today, all my eggs were in in the hen nests.  They had reason for not wanting to be a "sitting duck" for the snake.