Steal my eggs; go to prison.

Well, our little thief has returned. Jen was on the phone with her mom and looking out the window, when she noticed the mama duck bolt frantically from the nest. She shouted at me that the snake was probably back, and sure enough he was at the nest again. All eggs were still there.

       I went out with my trusty snake stick and snatched him up. You're going to prison bud. 

Luckily I already had a spare tank, already wired up for heat, sharing the thermostat with the cage above where Kiwi (my Mexican black king snake) dwells. Kiwi got excited with all the commotion. She is a snake eater (among other things) by nature, wonder if she smelled the new one? He's much bigger than her at any rate, but every snake lives solo around here. I only plan to keep him till the baby ducks are big enough that he won't be a threat anymore. And I have a CA fishing license so I'm legal to grab one from the wild. (I know it sounds funny that it would be a fishing license that you require, but it is! I even have a 'bag limit' that I'll never get near to reaching.) 

In order for this to work out though, I'll need to see if he'll eat in captivity. I thawed some mice (Kiwi's feed, I have about a hundred or so in the deep freeze) and decided to give it a try. 

Boy did he ever! This is one hungry snake. I guess he was likely going after the eggs in desperation. I gave him two more mice and he swallowed them without hesitation. That's a relief. If he wasn't going to be a successful captive, I was going to have to start looking around for another home for him. I'd be bummed not to have him on the property anymore. This snake is one of three regular gophersnakes that we see every spring and summer. I don't want to be short any gopher killers..

Here's a few more feeding pictures: He (or she) is a really pretty example of the species in my opinion. Lots of rosy/coral pink colors mixed with the black and tan pattern you usually see. After he has settled in some and digested this meal, I'll try and get some better pictures.

And not to leave Kiwi out. She is a permanent pet here- captive bred and been with us since she was only weeks old. Sorry the picture is not so great, I don't dare mess with her too much while she's feeding. She gets a little 'snappy' when she can smell mice, and she does NOT let go. 

One more of him curled up and full! Don't worry buddy, your 'sentence' won't be long.

Even when predators interfere, we think it's important to remember that they are worth saving. After all, I've almost lost an embryonic duck or two, but this guy didn't get this big from eating ducks (I would have noticed). Even while he doesn't see eye to eye with us regarding our livestock, he does his share of work around here by keeping the gopher, ground squirrel and black rat populations down. I feel the same way about the coyotes, the hawks, the owls, and all the other potential threats to my flock. I'm not saying I wouldn't ever resort to killing a predator, but honestly, I would do just about all I could to not have to ever do that. After all, wildlife is a big part of the reason we wanted to live out here in the first place, and life without them here would be a sad trade-off for that little bit of comfort. As of now, I've managed to lose not a single animal to predators, and I've never yet had to reach for the gun either to keep it that way. That's just the way we like it. 

Snake versus Duck

Heard a terrible duck-ish racket and Jen and I went out to investigate. When we saw them splashing around, we figured mama duck (buff and white runner pictured) was just enjoying herself splashing in the water. She spends most of her time on the nest, so she likes to go crazy when she takes a break. Running around beating up the other ducks, splashing in the water and quacking up a storm.
Luckily we thought to check the nest too. There was a snake trying to suck down her eggs. I figure that must have been what chased her off initially, I'm kind of surprised she didn't try to fight him off. Anyway we scared him away and all eggs are still there. He was VERY persistant. I pushed him off the nest over and over, but he kept sneaking around the artichoke plant and coming back to it. Finally we took the hose to him, and he raced off for a gopher hole. Now that's where I want the gopher snakes going.

Now that he knows where the nest is, he's very likely going to come back. I think I'll have to set up another snake tank- Just in case he's too persistant, he may end up spending his spring in the library eating frozen thawed mice like my king snake does, and released when the babies are too big for him to mess with.

Photos of the snake in the nest and the ducks splashing in the water to follow..

(And check out part 2 of this exciting tale here- http://allthumbsgreen.blogspot.com/2012/05/steal-my-eggs-go-to-prison.html )

Cool Video

Found this just now on Youtube. A great example of how these runner ducks can be herded. Enjoy!

DUCKS!- and other news

Saw some ducks pop up on Craigslist for free, so I decided to snatch a few up. They are Runner Ducks, so they stand up really straight and tall and march along together (turning in unison) like little soldiers. They were bred in India as a herding breed of duck, and I can concur they are pretty easy to herd wherever you need them to go. Unfortunately they seem to have wobbly legs, which I've read has something to do with a niacin deficit. Most feeds don't seem to be properly formulated for waterfowl. We'll be feeding flockraiser (or gamebird?) feed dusted with brewers' yeast, and hopefully that will get them in shape. I was planning on keeping them for eggs and meat (meat from those that we hatch) but I don't really have any desire to breed these if we can't get their legs strong. Maybe with proper nutrition and some daily 'herding' to get them exercise, they will recover. Pictured here is the 'duck house' we put together for them, they already go right into it at night, so it looks like a success. I have them ranging in the garden since we had nothing much grow for winter but the weeds. In their condition, the chickens really don't let them get any food, so we have decided to separate them in this way.

Also, we just got a new egg today. The first black/copper marans hen has FINALLY started laying. These are the two girls that caused us to stew up our old rooster Tango (if you recall he was beating them up pretty badly when I tried to integrate them into the flock). They were six weeks old when our little rumpless pullets (and "Django son of Tango") hatched. And yet our little ones have been laying now for several months! So yeah, these dark marans eggs have been a long time coming for sure. But check out this picture! Definitely worth the wait. Also pictured is the Black/Copper hen who layed it- She's up front there, with the feathered feet. Also check out our young rooster replacement! Isn't he just like his father? Just a bit more yellow feathering on him, but otherwise the spitting image.

Also we have new baby rabbits here as well. Seven this time, from the same doe as before. I don't like to disturb them too much when they are this little, so this is the only picture for now. 

See you next time!