Our First Rattlesnake

While working on school, we noticed out the window the chickens and turkeys gathering together, excited, and acting strange. With a closer look I could see that there was a rattlesnake in our yard, and the birds were trying to run him off! Up until now I have only seen a rattlesnake once before, and that was only a few weeks ago crossing the road. We were warned when we moved down here that we would see plenty of rattlesnakes, and so far I have seen 2 too many! I ran upstairs to grab a gun. Mitch wasn't home, and I wanted the snake dead. The kids are outside everyday, and I couldn't stand the thought of them getting bit by a rattlesnake. But by the time I returned to the yard the snake was gone.

I'll admit, I took time to take a picture of the snake before I ran to get a gun. This is a zoomed in photo.

The kids stayed inside the rest of the day, and I took over the night shift of feeding and locking up the animals. The next morning Skylar got up to go outside to feed her baby pig when she dropped everything and came running inside screaming. We could barely understand her, until she calmed down enough to let us know that the snake was dead on our back porch! The head was missing and and the cats were enjoying a feast. We believe that the cats hunted and killed the snake in the middle of the night, and then drug him up on the porch, as they do with most of their prey that they want to show off.

Mitch threw the dead snake deep into the woods, but not before cutting off the rattle for Maddox. I hope not to see another rattlesnake again so close to home, but I'm sure it won't be our last.