Friday, February 7, 2014

Rogue Gloria

I should have known that writing the words 'one big happy animal family' would jinx things.

That's how I signed off the last post, voicing my concerns that Pepper would get into the yard and kill the chickens.

Pepper hasn't proved to be a problem at all and the few times she's gotten up close to the chickens now she's been very mild. 

This might be because I misjudged her character or it might be because I ran over her foot the other night. 

Either way, she's been a much calmer presence. Shortly after driving over her foot (full recovery expected) I went to check on Gloria and Eunice. 

I found Gloria perched precariously in a very damaged coop, a flurry of feathers around her. When she got up and moved, I saw she was in fact sitting on top of a two-metre long python.

As someone on Instagram pointed out, she was probably just trying to hold him down until I got there. 


Look, I probably don't need to tell you that the news regarding Eunice isn't good. She had a short life, and I hope she didn't suffer too much at the end, but given the chaos in the coop I fear it wasn't exactly a quick demise. 

Our neighbours were quick to come and take the swollen python for relocation, and bring us a new chicken which Lucinda has christened 'Little Fella'.


When Little Fella was eventually taken to the yard, Gloria was not in a great state of mind. She climbed up on the post in the corner.

Everyone tried to talk her down.



That didn't go so well. 


So began a two-day period where Gloria went rogue, living rough in the out buildings and generally being sighted at unexpected times and places.



I'm happy to report Gloria is now safely back in the yard (well, safe might be overstating things, given the fate of her friend). Little Fella seems to be settling in nicely, the python has been relocated and, for now, things are again peaceful.

16 comments:

  1. You might have to clip one of their wings....this prevents them from flying as when they fly they are lopsided. It doesn't hurt them but at least they been in the one spot. That must have been a terrible fright about the snake OMG.......glad I wasn't collecting eggs in your chook house. Regards Kathy A, Brisbane, Australia

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    1. I know, she's yet to let me near enough her to catch and clip her wings though. Soon hopefully :-)

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  2. You will need to get some snake proof wire on the pen otherwise they won't be sage. We had a similar cage for our guinnea pigs, and one met a similar fate. I have now covered it in snake proof wire and feel they are much safer. It gives you a huge fraught and took me a while to get over the shock of it.

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  3. Oh gosh - as I read the first few sentences, I was worried that Pepper had eaten Eunice. Thank god for lovely neighbours.

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  4. Far out! Poor Gloria, I too would be scrambling for the treetops before being shut back in the coop of death! That python was MASSIVE. And I bet this all happened when Dan was at work? Always the way, my altercations with (tiny) snakes in my house mostly occurred when husband was in Milan or some other such exotic place. My only tip is when it gets dark the chooks either go in a bit of a trance or don't see so well so you may be able to grab Gloria then if you know where she is bedding down ( helped me retrieve mine off the clothesline at dusk). mel x

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    1. Coop of death. God, that made me laugh Mel. xx

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  5. Oh my goodness never a dull moment xxx

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  6. I thought that this kind of thing only happened to me :) Good that you can see the funny side. I'm still giggling and chortling

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  7. Oh no! I would be on top of posts and going free range too! I would not recover! You poor thing! x

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  8. Pythons are stronger than they look. We had one push a large piece of corragated iron we were using as a flat roof, for our young chicks outside. Luckily we were home in the evening, when we heard the ruckus. We were able to save the chick it was attempting to swallow and then relocated the python many blocks away.

    Snake mesh is a good deterrent and keeps rodents out too. I used tacking screws which was easier than u-nails when installing the mesh - especially on softwood like pine.

    I hope you're not deterred, or feel like a failure after losing a chicken? It happens to everyone because predators are so determined to get a meal. Really, the odds are stacked against the humble chicken owner and there are going to be a few poor biddies, consigned back to nature. Maybe keep Gloria's flight feathers for now, as she seems to have a keen sense of survival, and caution to avoid danger.

    We actually lost an araucana once, and she defied being found. We spent literally hours trying to get her back into the chicken tractor, then she decided to hole-out in the lantana thicket. Well, we weren't going in there after her! We gave up. Once it was completely quiet, she showed up, clucking around her tractor like nothing happened. I learned a lesson in chicken wrangling that day. If you want them to return home, go inside and act like they aren't missing. They'll turn up faster than you can say jack-rabbit, lol.

    Glad Gloria is safe. :)

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    1. It's unfortunate I held off on buying a chicken for so long purely because of my concerns re snakes. Having this happen in the first week has kind of reiterated my worries... But we'll persevere ;-)

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  9. Oh No poor Eunice ! we had to relocate a python....took it over a kilometre away, few weeks later it was back, so took it 4 k's near an egg farm to keep the mice in check, never came back after that.
    Hope the snake wire works for you and Gloria settles down, this shock may put her off the lay for a while.

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  10. Oh dear. Very sad, and very funnily conveyed. I love that photo of everyone trying to talk Gloria down. :-) Poor Eunice. Those snakes, eh?

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  11. oh you poor things - this would have been a horrible shock, especially for Lucinda. It has happened to me too - opened the nesting box to find a big fat carpet snake curled up digesting a hen. To me, your neighbours sound like absolute saints! you are lucky to have them close by. Hope you have now snake proofed the hutch and all is good. cheers Wendy

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    1. Great neighbours, terrible reptiles - that's pretty much the way of things around here!

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