Are cats good Snake killers?

[Chirpy]

I have a couple of cats that kill snakes (small, garden snakes). So, I agree it's the personality of the cat.

I loved my Guineas! Mine did free range every day but were raised with chickens so they would go back into the coop to roost every night with their chicken family. The only negative thing I have to say about them is THEY ARE REALLY, REALLY LOUD!!!! My husband just couldn't handle the LOUD talking they did all day long so I had to rehome them.

My mom had Guineas in Iowa and loved how they ate the bugs and ticks and gave them fresh eggs every day. Hers also free ranged all day and would roost in the trees at night. Guineas are known to be good snake killers... BUT THEY ARE LOUD!!

 

[Kitdragon2000]

I apologize, stupid was not the right word. i have heard they are not very cautious about motor vehicles, and that really does worry me, i dont want any of my animals getting hit, so if i think they arnt street save i wont bring them in. i really do want to do best by anything i bring into my home. but thank you for the info!

yes my family doesnt like loud either... so i dont think guenia's will fit in the family.... they have threatend my imajinary rooster who knows what they would do with something else? how much noise do turkeys make? If they kill snakes that might be my best shot...

 

[boykin2010]

My turkey hen does not make any noises except for the occasional cluck like a chicken hen. However, during breeding season ( February - October here) the male will gobble. It is not a nonstop gobble, he just does it when something is surprising, loud. or new to him. I used to let my turkeys free range but they became so friendly they started to come in my garage and sleeping on top of the cars so we had to build them a pen. They do very well in a pen though. Another good thing about turkeys is they are good mothers, lay lots of eggs and are great lawn ornaments. Everyone loved watching the turkeys run around and scratch.

Hope you decide you want some turkeys. They are great.

I sell hatching eggs from them so if you want some, PM me

 

[Kitdragon2000]

I was really thinking of turkeys, now more so!! It wont be for atleast a year, but if you still have some ill pm you when im ready!

 

[Queen Mum]

Ferrets are great snake killers. They are smart and trainable. But you would need to keep them out of the chicken pen. They eat eggs. You can leash train them.

On the other hand, snakes kill mice and are relatively shy creatures. If you manage the grounds and farm the snakes shouldn't be too bad of a problem. If you have cats to kill the mice and other pests the snakes should stay fairly far away. They don't like people that much.

This is coming from someone who just had two of them invade her house. I am surrounded by them. Cotton mouths, rattle snakes, coral snakes, etcetera. AND I live on a turtle farm between 6 turtle ponds and a swamp.

The snakes aren't the problem. It's the rabbits, squirrels and flies that bug me... The snakes can live in harmony on my place. Of course, now that I have said that, someone will probably find my carcass in the swamp dead from a coral snake bit and surrounded by cotton mouths and water mocassins, being eaten by rats while bunnies hop around eating all the grass and my goats cry out to be milked.

 

[redtailgal]

lol Queen mum.

Coral snakes are beautiful! And while they have a highly potent neuro-toxin as a venom, they also have very weak jaws and VERY short fangs.........they would literally have to GNAW on you to deliver a fatal bite that would leave you rotting in the swamp (even at gnawing, chances are they couldnt bite through a pair of jeans). They are also very shy and would prefer to escape rather than bite. Leave them alone and they will run from you.

Those cotton mouths on the other hand..........they WILL chase you down and gnaw on you, delivering an intensely painful bite that can cause lots of problems.

Cats will kill snakes, but usually suffer a few bites in the process. If one will learn to identify the snakes around them, any snake with a black skin is a good snake to have (rat snakes, common black snake, black and grey racer, and esp kingsnakes of all types). These snakes will kill and eat poisonous snakes.

If you want to put out a snake deterrent, moth balls placed every six inches or so will work pretty good. Dig a small trench, about an inch deep and "plant" your moth balls in there. Snakes smell by sticking out their tongue and allowing the proteins that cause the odor to stick to the tongue, then they pull the tongue in and "taste" the smell. Mothballs have a particularly uncomfortable taste-smell to snakes, and many will not pass thru this odor barrier.

If you do see a poisonous snake, please dont kill it with a hoe........shoot it. Most snakebites happen while the snake is being killed, so find a long distance way to do it.

 

[Kitdragon2000]

@queen mum Lol love the part about the bunnys hoping and goats crying hopefully the snakes wont attack you for saying you can work well around them.

@redtailgal Thank you about the mothballs!! I havent heard that one before! Honestly my main concern is the rattlers, and they are comming out something fierce this year!! and i would just get it in a garbage can and Move them away, i wont kill it unless there is no other choice.

Im usually good with working with nature, im planing on making a lot of enclosures to keep all the animals safe at night with coyote's around, its just i have a red tail so i know what tiny little holes they can get through so i just worry a bit. Thank you for all the info!!!

 

[Equusrider]

Why would you are needing to kill snakes is my first question? If you are dealing with poisonous snakes and you or what you raise are in danger, I understand. But poisonous snakes would kill the cats just as quickly maybe more quickly than the other way around. If your lively hood depended on what the snakes eat like eggs and chick, I could understand to a point, Id argue for a balance, because snakes are GREAT rodent/pest control animals if you are a farmer. Garter snakes when they are young keep the snail/slug and insect population down; when they are older, mice are fair game. In California, Gopher, King, and Racer snakes are your best friend if you need to keep the rodent population down. King snakes are one of the few snakes that will take on and eat other snakes as in rattlesnakes. Identify what kind of snakes are you trying to get rid of and why and go from there.