AllenOK
Executive Chef
By the way, Allen, we have rat snakes and chicken snakes on our property, and we co-exist with them, as they, along with the red tail hawk, really help control the field mice.
Living out in the sticks like we do, yes, field mice are a concern. Therefore, I can live in harmony with rat snakes and chicken snakes. Any non-venomous snake in my backyard, I'll leave it alone, at least until my MIL finds out about it. Then I'll probably have to remove it.
Since we do have kids, any venomous snake that gets in the backyard is toast. If I was out in the woods somewhere, I'd leave it alone, but the backyard is no place for venomous snakes.