The other morning, I was out doing my chores before heading off to work when I came across one of my garden friends who had gotten itself into a bit of a pickle. You see, I have my chicken coop enclosed by deer netting. I was afraid when I put the stuff up that it wasn't going to last very long before some animal shredded it, but so far it has worked amazingly! In fact, on this particular morning, I was going to see first-hand just how well it does work.

As I approached the human entrance on the side of the chicken run where the feeders and watering bucket are located, I spotted a snake that had gotten itself tangled up in the netting. Just a quick glance was enough to identify it as a speckled king snake. The only other look alike that may even be found in Arkansas is the Eastern Black Kingsnake, but their range only extends to the eastern bank of the Mississippi River. There has not been a confirmed sighting of one here in Arkansas. As such, I'm pretty positive that it was a speckled. This one wasn't big enough to harm any of my chickens, but it probably could have made a few eggs disappear.

I don't like killing snakes, and this one is definitely one of the good guys when it comes to pest control: king snakes are known for eating other snakes, including venomous one! So, I decided to relocate it to the fence row out by the garden. Hopefully, it will provide me with some FREE organic pest control for years to come!