I’m guessing this is a juvenile rat snake, on his way to turning black. He’s well over two feet long already. No fangs. Surprisingly, he lunged repeatedly, very aggressively. Should I feed him to the chickens? I’m sure that snakes taste good in the form of chicken eggs!
Update: The Decision!
Late in the evening, having attentively considered the advocacy for chickens, eggs, snakes, rats, mice, spiders and other eventual beasts even hypothetically involved in the decision of the fates of same, an education experience followed by benevolence toward all seemed the best path upon which to set.
The snake was then forthwith removed from the hermitage. By this time, sensing that mercy would be his, the snake acted as if I was the friendliest creature ever to be found. No lunging with wide open mouth. Just playfulness in crawling about on the arms of yours truly.
I was not to be thwarted from the course. I proceeded to bring him into the lion’s… errrr…. chickens’ den. This made both snake and chickens nervous, including the rooster. I continued to hold the snake before them. By this time the snake knew he was outnumbered and wasn’t about to catch anyone off guard and was writhing about, trying so sling his body around the neck of the rooster. Being a constrictor, this was quite the attack.
The rooster, in turn, backed away three or four times, but then, emboldened, struck like lightning and gave the snake a good peck. Surely painful. The snake learned a lesson. The rooster was totally emboldened and could consider himself the victor.
The humiliated but unhurt snake was transported right to the place where I found him. Having become his rescuer, he was now not at all eager to leave. He eventually slithered out on the deck of the stairs, under some kindling.
He might just stay away from the chickens, and only go after the forest mice and forest rats and such other foresty beasts. If he forgets his lesson, the rooster will have been emboldened to attack him without hesitation.
And all were content to have learned a lesson.
Accompany me, Father George David Byers, S.S.L., S.T.D., as I begin life as a Catholic Priest-Hermit by choice. Holy Souls Hermitage is dedicated to the sanctification of my fellow priests, bishops, deacons & seminarians going through the purgatory of this life or the next. Prayer and sacrifice go up, of course, for both Benedict XVI and the next Successor of Saint Peter. 
Father, how do you get to trust that those snakes are not dangerous?
I can’t decide. Is the snake truly a threat to the chickens’ and your livelihood? Would the snake’s absence endanger the hermitage to rodent overpopulation? Would the chickens lose their appetite for Brown Recluse Spiders? Would you have my will interfere in God’s natural order of things?
Remember snakes eat the mice and large bugs that get in your books and clothes!
snakes also eat animals.. like chickens… they would be completely useful (and worth keeping) if they feasted only on brown recluse spiders
Too bad you don’t have a positive ID on this little guy. If he isn’t poisonous and doesn’t pose a threat to you in the future, I’d say let him go. This way YOU don’t have to kill mice or other vermin. Besides, isn’t he a little big for the chickens to take on?
joisygoil — If your last question is true, how about I put them together, and if it’s a stalemate, they both get to live?
I’m guessing, with all those beaks and claws, any snake better think twice before trespassing into hermitage chicken free range.
Snakes are as good at pest control as chickens. I think that snake’s too big for the chickens to eat.
Sounds fair to me. The experiment might just provide you with some excitement.