Egg Thief vs. Rattlesnake in the grass.

He slid under the hen and lifted her off her nest.  He swallowed an egg while slithering down the side of the wall.

I had read on line that one egg would satisfy a Gopher snake for a month so he would be unlikely to return.  I set up barricades to the nest while he crushed and engorged the egg.  

He wasn't sated.  He returned to the nest, past my insufficient blockcades.

So I gently removed him from the coop after making absolutely certain he was a GOPHER and not a RATTLE snake.  His head was rounded and not angular. He had no rattles though he tried to convince me he did by hissing and and shaking the tip of his naked tail.

 
He seemed indignant about his removal casting back a look of disdain before sliding away into the grass.   I secured then in a safer spot, put a big plastic owl in the coop and blocked  his entrance hole.

He is a lovely Gopher Snake. The snake in the grass shown below
looks the same but look closely and you may see six buttons on the end of his tail.  A six year old rattler...

Perhaps the two will meet.  It is likely the Gopher snake will devour the rattler.

sliding down the wall swallowing an egg

The Gopher snake lifted the hen from her nest and stole her egg.  I moved her to a safer spot and she lives with me now in Aptos with her two healthy chicks

Rattlesnake in the grass, look carefully to the far left and you can see six buttons, his rattles.