Several years back we got my mom these two chicks. They were a mothers day/ birthday gift (her birthday is very close to mothers day) and she was so surprised. Turns out we got her silkies (a specific breed of chicken), a male and female. Years later she has a whole bunch of chickens. Her silkies mated and reproduced, some died, new chickens were introduced, the mated and reproduced. She has quite the flock going. Problem is she has too many roosters.
A rooster need to have about 10 hens to himself and multiple roosters in a small space with limited hens means fighting over mates or overly abusing the few mating hens. My mom is facing the “too many roosters” issue right now.
She lives in a community called New River here in Arizona, it is in the heart of the desert. We were heading out to the chicken coup to see the hens who were suffered from overly aggressive/ frequent mating. Their wings were plucked bare and the roosters spurs were had dug hole in the hens sides.. Anyway, my mom was taking me out to see the flock and as we approached the coup I spotted this.
It is a very young rattle snake resting under a rock! As a native Arizonan I have been conditioned to always look at the ground and to scan several feet in front of you as you tromp through the dessert. Snake bites are not a fun thing to experience and if you aren’t aware of what you are walking near or on then you will get bit.
So I spotted the snake under the rock as we were approaching the chicken coup and stopped dead in my tracks. If I hadn’t been looking I would have stepped right on top of the rock the snake was resting under. This might have resulted in a nasty bite, not a great way to spend mothers day weekend!
I reached out and stopped my mom from walking any closer, burned my hand on her lit cigarette and we called for the men to come move the snake from the chicken coup, not before taking some photos and videos though!
I entered a contest for my mom over at lifetime.com. If you have a moment would you head over and vote for her photo? I would really like her to win! Thanks. http://www.mylifetime.com/photos/mothersday/rate.php?id=202848
Wow! Did you know I was fascinated by snakes?
I am. thank you for this. And extra roosters? Some of them spell d-i-n-n-e-r.
If they’re tough, they can be slow cooked in the crockpot with some apple juice or wine, and they will be delish.
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AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
You are so brave. That clip would have been pure turbulent footage of me…running away 🙁
*shudder* I sooooo HATE snakes. One of the biggest pitfalls of living on a farm in my opinion. Fortunately we don’t get too many close to the house – but there’s usually 1 or 2 a year. *shudder*
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I’m impressed that there’s no swearing in the audio. I’d have been squealing “holy sh*t” over and over.
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