I am not computer savvy and I do not know how to link up my 'comments', but this is in response to a recent comment about the snake that ate a duck.
An anonymous poster was upset because I had killed the snake and showed concern about the future of wildlife in reference to occasional farm necessity.
If you read carefully you will see that we released 6 small snakes onto our property last year.
That is 6 new snakes.
You will also note that last year I rehomed a very large snake that was eating my eggs.
I carefully captured and moved him to a new location.
Of course, the rehoming of snakes is really just a delayed death as most snakes, no matter the size, do not survive being plonked down into a new territory. It may do fine. It may lose the confrontation with the in-resident snake. It may win the confrontation which would result in the death of the in-resident snake.
I killed the snake because it was eating my expensive livestock. Not the myriad of mice, chipmunks, voles and rats that abound here.
I killed the snake becaue it was taking food from my table and taking money from my pocket.
I killed the snake because it overdid and was not going to be able to digest that meal most likely.
It was already trapped within the pen when I got to it. It had overeaten to the point that it was no longer able to function properly and find safety.
We practice sustainable farming practices. And in doing so we actively sustain ALL life on the farm. ALL life is needed to have a healthy, balanced system.
We have no traps for rodents except for in the house because I just will not have droppings in my silverware drawer. Can't blame me there.
We do not poison insects here. All are welcome in the garden and the good balances the bad... except for squash bugs and they just win. I have the ducks for that, I hope.
But, just as in any healthy system, there is death when the balance is disturbed. A snake of that size is just a hazard and there needs to be corrections made.
I am not thrilled about killing the snake, but it happens.
And I look forward to those 6 little guys growing up healthy and happy here on our little space.
To all readers: I love comments, even ones that are unhappy at me. If there is confusion, I will do my best to clear the waters. I have put myself out here into the world and have no expectations of pleasing everyone all of the time.
Please continue to comment and thank you for reading about my life and experiences.
I do enjoy sharing with you all... my family gets sick of listening to me :)
i don't think you have to apologize to anyone. you did what you had to do and some idiot hiding behind a computer could never understand the concept of protecting your food. Also, they could have just as easily moved on to someone else's blog. It is a free counrty.
ReplyDeleteFarm life isn't as rosy as non-farmers like to pretend it is. Although we haven't personally killed any snakes, our dog is obsessed with them and has taken out quite a few before I could pull her off. It's all a trade-off --- for us, leaving 90% of the farm in woods makes us feel better about any depredations by the dog and cats in our little two acre garden.
ReplyDeleteWhich is all to say --- don't feel bad. I enjoyed your post. :-)
You should have killed the snake. You done good. :)
ReplyDeletesing it sister, you know what you're doing. you've got a farmstead to manage. make it sing.
ReplyDeleteSometimes living on a farm you have to do what you have to do. Would they expected you to let a coyote take down the family dog? We have had to dispatch of our fair share of menaces here, from fox to racoons, etc. It's like you said you can't let them take food from your table!!! Keep up the good work, at least now you won't have to worry about your ducks for awhile.
ReplyDelete