Dead snake in hay

[Cinnabun14]

Hi guys, need a bit of advice...I found a dried up, chopped up dead snake in the hay bale this morning . After freaking out like a little girl, I removed as much as I could. I think I got all of it (I pulled the flake apart). But...is the bale still good? I use compressed bales, the pull of flakes of them at a time, then pull those flakes apart to check (for stuff like this!). Do I need to throw away just the snake-y hay, or the whole thing?

 

[joey&boo]

oh Christ, I think that would finish me off I'd be tempted to chuck the lot but I don't know anything sensible to base that on. Do they carry disease?

 

[Omi]

This is difficult to advise on without being able to see the hay plus snake.

Do you know which snake it is likely to be? If it were here, I would guess that it was a Grass Snake. I would also suspect that there are Grass Snakes moving around most of the time within the grass where the hay was cut. You just won't be aware of them.

I would doubt whether the snake is likely to be carrying disease, or at least no more than the host of other small mammals which will have their homes within the grass. However, I suspect that this poor creature got chopped up when the hay was cut, which is how it made it's way into your hay bale. I guess it's possible that infection might have entered the chopped up pieces, although you did say it was dried up, so possibly not. Possibly give the snake pieces a good sniff.

I would make a decision based on what I could see, but I would think it unnecessary to throw away all of it. I think I would probably just make sure that any snake pieces were removed, together with the immediate hay around it.

This sort of thing must be a regular occurence. We live opposite a hayfield and every year when the hay is being cut, there are birds of prey circling the field, hoping to find a chopped up mammal of some sort

 

[SarahP]

I think probably just all the hay around it needs to be thrown out. But... aaargh!!!!

 

[Cinnabun14]

Thanks all! I threw away the snake-y flake, and have just been sifting through the rest to be sure. Without trying to be graphic, it was pretty dried out and it didn't smell, so I don't think it was decaying inside the bale. It was a garter snake, from what I could see, but I'm not sure if they carry disease any more than mice do.

I suppose this is the trade-off for getting a big bale instead of rabbit hay in bags!

 

[Cuthbert&Dillon]

Oh yeah gods - I dont think I would be that calm find a snake - the thought makes me shudder.

 

[William]

Aww poor snakey! I love snakes, we're always careful not to chop them up with the lawn mower / weedeater (as well as lizards, frogs, toads, skinks...) but I never even thought of them getting accidentally killed in fields!

I'm glad you were able to just throw away the part that's contaminated.

 

[MimzMum]

Oof..I did find a whole, dead mouse in one of my bales years ago. Definitely tossed the lot and informed my supplier. They were nice about it and replaced the entire box, which at that time cost me $120 to ship to Alaska.

I feel terrible for these poor critters, but it's a sqwiky situation for the bunnies too...don't think they'd appreciate a side of snake with their grasses.

I was in one of our large grocery stores on Monday and there was a finch flying down the aisles. It's amazing where little animals can get into.

 

[Jaelyn]

Hi guys, need a bit of advice...I found a dried up, chopped up dead snake in the hay bale this morning . After freaking out like a little girl, I removed as much as I could. I think I got all of it (I pulled the flake apart). But...is the bale still good? I use compressed bales, the pull of flakes of them at a time, then pull those flakes apart to check (for stuff like this!). Do I need to throw away just the snake-y hay, or the whole thing?

that happens a lot, they are in the field when they go to harvest the hay and get chopped up like hay
I found I smooshed grasshopper in Bandit's hay a while ago