I recently had a new helper at feeding time. This HUGE, 8 foot long, rat snake slithered it's way towards me while I was out feeding a few weeks ago. Rat snakes, have markings on them similar to poisonous snakes so they are a scary sight, but I actually felt sorry for this poor guy. He was simply trying to make his way from my front yard, across the road, and to the creek, but it was a rough trip for him. First, he had me trying to film him with my cell phone along with taking many pictures. Then, Sammy, my Great Pyrenees decided he wanted to protect me so he aggravated the snake to the point I thought he was just gonna ball up and give up. Next he had to cross the gravel road which he stretched completely across from one side to the other, which is how I am guesstimating his length at 8 feet. And finally, he had to go through the goat lot. The goats could have cared less that he was there, it was feeding time and that's all that mattered to them. They were stepping on him left and right and I actually felt sorry for the poor snake, he was dodging goats, and ducking trying to keep from getting trampled. I sent the picture and some video clips to a bunch of my friends and family and the first question everyone asked was, "did you kill it?" Why would I kill such a valuable asset to my farm? He wasn't bothering a thing and he's helping rid the farm of rats and mice, so he's more than welcome here!
