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Geese Vs Venomous Snakes

 
pollinator
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Location: Calhoun County, West Virginia
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Hi to all,

Okay so the creation of woodpiles, stone piles, leaf litter and other micro-ecologies on the homestead is great for alot of different life forms, but in the Deep South we have some pretty healthy Copperheads, Cottonmouths, Coral Snakes, Pigmy Rattlesnakes and Eastern Rattlesnakes.  How are geese with snakes?  Will they sound the alarm? Will they teach the dogs that snakes are dangerous?  Would a large enough goose or geese in numbers drive one way or try to make a snack out of it?  How about watch-geese pastured with sheep and goats?  Any thoughts or anecdotes?  Any experiences out of Africa or Australia to share?

Zone 9a/9b x 60 inches of rainfall a year.
 
steward
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I have always heard that if a person has a snake problem get a goose or a dog.

If a person is worried about the brush piles attracting snakes then it is best to make the pile away from living areas.

This morning, my husband and I spent all morning moving the tree-size limbs that were broken during the Dec. 31st ice storm that came through Texas.

The reason we had to move them is because of rattlesnakes. So far we have killed two on our patio.  The one last night was the biggest one I have ever seen.  We are saving the carcass for our son-in-law to mount. We put the carcass in several trash bags and put it in the freezer.  I would guess it weighs 5 pounds.
 
Michael Littlejohn
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Yipes.  Probably too late for that one, but I hear you can fry rattlesnake. Thanks for the reply on this.  I'm not anti-snake in the least but if I step on one, the consequences would not very nice for me.
 
gardener
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I have no experience with this, but when researching American Guinea Hogs, I remembered this quote, "The hogs were also kept in the yard where they would eat snakes and thus create a safe zone around the house."

This comes from the Livestock Conservancy  website. https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/guineahog

Maybe some breeds of pigs might be an option?
 
Michael Littlejohn
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Thanks for that Matt.
 
Anne Miller
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Michael said "Probably too late for that one, but I hear you can fry rattlesnake.



I don't care for meat that is hard to eat so snakes are not on my list. My reasoning is it more bone than meat. I don't like shrimp or crawdads unless fried and someone else did the prep work of peeling them.

I have tasted rattlesnake and cooked it, also.

You might like this one:

https://permies.com/t/72090/kitchen/Cook-Snake-Deboning
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