I’ve been assembling the honey house and am finally done.  The extractor is up and running and we’ll have honey in the barn by the end of the day.  It will take a while to get it all done but having on site honey extraction is going to make possible better varietals and more exact harvesting.  In the past we’ve used  other facilities, one of them on Cumberland and its been more work than it should be.

Meanwhile back at the chickens, I was gathering eggs yesterday and was greeted by the sight of a 5 foot chicken snake getting its jaws around an egg.  Once I got him to yield up the egg and administered a lesson in not eating eggs I noticed yet another snake dscn0963.jpg( an oak snake, smaller, similar to the one pictured ) coiled up in the corner of the coop with the characteristic shape of an egg partway down it.  Eek.  The first snake in the coop this year and there are two of them, different species, side by side snacking on eggs. Strange doings indeed.  That rooster should shut up already and do some work.  If he can attack me, and he gave me the spurs just the other day, he ought to see off some puny snakes.

When I first heard of chicken snakes I assumed it was yet another southernism like ‘chicken hawk’ which refers not to a specific species of hawk but to all hawks that might like chickens.  My guide to local herps had no chicken snake.  Then during a trip to the Smithsonian I chanced to find the Okefenokee display and there it was, clearly identified, a chicken snake.  Egg snake would be more accurate because they don’t actually prey on hens but they love to steal eggs.  I don’t blame ‘em our eggs are delicious.