The Snake's Mouth
It's been a busy morning. The feather mama express late opening the roost this morning. As Big Sis supervised the single file exit from the hutch where the turkey babies have been sleeping, while little sis and I watched from the door of the pen, the biggest of the blue turkeys stayed behind with its head in the mouth of a bull snake which was too small to wrap itself around the turkey body twice, much less swallow that body whole. As I instinctively grabbed the young snake by the tail and flung it into the paddock, the turkey head popped easily from the snake's mouth. To everyone's relief and amazement, the turkey popped to its feet in a confused daze. I picked it up and began examining the head for ? ? ? What does one look for after you pull a bird's head from a snake's mouth? The surest thing was that the little bird was in no hurry to leave my arms.
Big Sis held the bird in her lap while I pushed the wagon back to the house for nursing. Recovery looked pretty complete by the time I finished washing the snake slime off the little head with q-tips soaked in witch hazel.
The main picture here was taken after I settled Big Blue on the chair where the nursing was done. In the top inset, its head is still damp from the witch hazel. The bottom inset is what the bird looked like a week ago.
It appears as though recovery will be quick and complete for Big Blue.
Replies
Good timing and quick acting saved the day! Too bad the snake lives to try again another day. Hugs.
I still can't bring myself to hating snakes for their need to eat, though the ambitious baby snake wouldn't have been able to swallow this turkey, anyway. It's little mouth wasn't big enough to get over the head, much less the shoulders. A snake big enough to actually eat one of these birds wouldn't have fit through the 1/10" grid of the cage.
Bull snakes are some of the best rat catchers on the planet. How 'bout you stick to vermin control, little snake baby.
Wow what a way to start the day. You’re a good mom to these babies. I had a similar experience with chickens once but wasn’t able to save the baby. It was a huge python that got into a mesh cage through a hole that was logically way too small for it to fit through. It was quite distressing for me being unable to stop it and having to watch the process. I know pythons aren’t venomous but I was frightened anyway. I bet you would have tackled it though.
Well. . . Maybe. . . No point in trying to cut a chick out of a python. Done is done and I respect a predator's right to life.
I'm a great one to have around in an emergency because my reflexes are much faster than my good sense, but the math on how I managed to make it to 65 doesn't quite add up. I all too often don't have the sense to know when I should be afraid, but bull snakes and pythons aren't one of those times. Unless they are big enough to swallow you whole, of course.
Way to save the day Arfie!
I am with you on respecting a snake’s need to eat but poor baby gobbler. Great save.
I had a friend as a child who has a pet rattle snake that we fed the pesky field mice (that broke into our grain barrels) to. Only once did we save one of those mice from certain death and it’s because the little thing deserved it. Ever see a tiny mouse take on an adult rattler? Let’s say after two unsuccessful attempts, both snake and mouse has been bloodied. So we let the thing go in a field far far from out grain supply.
I’m also with you on instinct to act & reflexes out weighing thought and common sense. It might be a motherly hardwired part of genetics but there have been more times than I care to admit that in hindsight I probably shouldn’t have survived much less walked away without injury. Granted most of mine involve horses and the absolute blind faith of a little girl that I could do anything.
Hugs & love Arfie and hopes and prayers for the little turkey’s healing recovery from snake trauma.
Geez..... That would be disturbing..... Good for you...… I've never lived in a farming environment.... There's so many things that I don't think of being in the city
I feed the birds and squirrels in the yard and we have a big fat cat that comes over to stalk them but he's not hungry … Too well fed so they don't suffer by him
Baby blue is a cutie …..xo
Big Blue made a full recovery. I still can't tell the turkey boys from the turkey girls, but the fact that it is the biggest of the babies makes me suspect Big Blue is a boy butttttaaaaaa. . . Girl howdy I have allot to learn about turkeys. I didn't have the heart to put the turkeys back in the hutch for the night. I keep thinking the babies might have been able to escape the snakes if they hadn't been trapped in the hutch. Maybe. They get pretty dopey at night. I left them huddled in a spot of their choice on the barn floor. Now I'm worried about exposure to other critters the hutch DID keep out.
Sigh. . . If it ain't one thing, it's two. . .
Look closer at your urban environment, Jan. Nature is far more adaptable than many humans take the time to notice. Ya never can be sure who all you have for neighbors and even roommates. Sewers, greenbelts and trash piles are my favorite places to track urban wildlife.
I should ask my dad about turkeys. I really do wonder if that’s his spirit animal. He’s actually had articles written about him in hunting magazines regarding his devout and unique turkey hunting methods. I wouldn’t be surprised if he could name every bone in their anatomy, lol.
My knowledge is limited to adult turkeys, so until the Jakes gets their beards I’m probably of no help.
I’m in a semi-urban environment but even in the cities we had grass snakes. A bit of me is missing some of the more entertaining visitors though of small town & the country. I have some found memories of the giant groundhog, the family of raccoons and various possums that would come wandering through my back yard in Kansas. We still have our occasional bunny but the black squirrels generally run them off as does our neighbor’s two dogs (we share a fenced in back yard).
Anyhow. Random thoughts.
Happy to hear Big Blue made a full recovery, Arfie.
Hugs & love!
Wild turkey hunters would be largest body of turkey experts I've found so far, followed closely by commercial meat turkeys.
Domestic heritage turkeys are still coming back from near extinction. That much smaller body of experts isnae quite so spurty.
So much for the theory that sleeping in the open would allow the turkey babies to escape a snake attack. I found another buff(?) turkey, snake slimed to the shoulders and quite dead. The other 8 turkeys wandered in somber tones from varying directions as they recognized me.
I find myself wondering if turkeys are pack hunters. The wandering wonder started with their pursuit of grasshoppers and crystallized yesterday evening when I watched them pursuing a good sized bull snake across the paddocks. 'Twas the first time I have seen a snake move so fast that it looked like an arrow in flight and it still just barely escaped. At least, that is what I think I saw. Wonder upon wandering wonder? ? ?