Good snake, nasty snake, and a very naughty egg eating snake

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Snakes are not my favorite creatures. However, once in a while, a snake can be very gentle and pretty to look at, such as this Western Hog nose snake. If you click on the picture, you can see his up-turned nose just like that of a hog. I almost stepped on this one as I was working out in the garden. A very good snake for controlling mice.

Then comes along the very nasty snakes.
Surprisingly, this is not a rattler, one of the nastiest I think, but a bull snake. They are usually good snakes, shy and run away as soon as one spots them, and good for chasing off rattlesnakes and controlling mice. However, this one was in my yard, in the middle of raiding a rabbit's nest. My cat discovered him and was just inches away from being bitten in the face. I heard the hissing, came out with a shovel and discovered what he was up too. I shoved the shovel at him, and instead of running off, he just kept striking at me and inching closer. He was heavy, and I thought I would never accomplish scooping him up and tossing him out of the yard. The more I tossed him, the more he popped back with a forceful leap.

At the end, the snake was tossed away into the woods, and one little baby rabbit was saved. I covered him back up in his nest.

And then, there is the naughty snake. ....

These past few weeks, my chickens have quit laying, ( I thought). I have only been getting one to three eggs a day. Yesterday, I went into the duck's pen to clean and there was another bull snake lying in their box. I chased him out and he quickly disappeared like a bull snake should. We went out of town, not getting back till wee hours of night. I went to check on the chickens and close them up for the night. With a flash light, I entered the dark hen house to gather the day's eggs. Right beside a nest, empty, was the same bull snake curled up! I tried to run him out, instead he went in behind the chicken hutches for new chicks. This morning, I had to pull all the nest boxes and hutches out of the hen house to get him out. He had already gone. I now have placed ammonia all around the outside hen house, on the hen house floor and around the outside pens. This should keep him away. Hopefully, I will have eggs to sell if he does not come back! What a naughty boy!