Wannabe Thief

Originally Posted by Rich Z

Heck, ask many people if they were given free room and board for the rest of their lives, with food when they are hungry and a mate when they want one, completely protected from outside harm, but are restricted in their movements outside of captivity, and see what they say.

Some would call it "prison"!

We'd been remarking on how we haven't had any guests lately. We went out to check on the quail and found #4 inside one of the cages with a quail halfway down his gullet. He had literally broken into the cage--the screen is all bent to (&(^# where he got through.

He ended up spitting my bird out--it was too large for him. He's currently sitting in a spare bin while a more appropriate meal thaws. I don't begrudge a snake for being a snake, but I'm really pissed that he killed a meal too big for him.

The quail who died was a rooster. He did exactly as a rooster should, took the hit protecting his hens. We buried him with our other pets, because he deserved a hero's funeral. We'll be fixing the quail cages tomorrow, and snake-proofing the whole shed in the very near future.

We marked the snake who had killed one of the quail roosters and let him go this morning. Guess what we found this afternoon.

He'd gotten in and eaten one of the quail, but he couldn't get back out due to a massive lump. He will be staying in the house for the rest of the year, since he apparently has learned how to break into the cages. We're also going to get a chicken rooster and set up his coop in the quail shed. Roosters will happily beat the snot out of any snake who tries to come near.

Behold, the snake we're calling a whole bunch of names we can't post on a family forum, and one of the quail hens.

He looks unrepentant! I love his face. Sorry about your quails.

We've had a few come and go, and I haven't really chronicled their actions, but today we had an interesting one.

#1 showed up again--in the rabbit shed. He was sitting on top of the cage with a momma and her 7 three-week-old babies. He saw me and decided to try to move away, but at one point he did stick his head through the wire to get a sniff. I tapped his nose, and he backed off and made for the quail shed a few feet away. We did end up catching him as he was entering the quail shed.

It was probably best for him that he did not go after a rabbit kit. Mama Rabbit takes umbrage when I handle her babies, and I am the food bringer and head rubber. She would take a lot more umbrage from a snake, and Mama Rabbit is every bit of 9 pounds. It would not have gone well for #1.

#1 is looking good--he's filled out since June when we first put the quail out. All those extra mouse meals. I'll have to take a picture of him.

This is my favorite thread!!

Love the updates!

Here is #1, looking just as unrepentant as always. Compare him here to his very first photo in the thread--several months of free meals has agreed with him.

#4 the quail eater is deep in blue. There are few things as miserable as a black snake in blue, and so I didn't torment him by getting a picture.

He looks very smug. Lol

This. Is. Hilarious. I'm so jealous that you get so many visitors! Very sorry about all those quail though...