If you have a backyard farm, then you know that snakes and reptiles are a huge problem that you need to deal with.
Turkeys can actually help you take of that problem.
Do turkeys kill snakes? Yes, turkeys kill snakes. Turkeys are omnivores. This means they eat plants as well as meat. To put it straight, they eat plants and animals. They aren’t choosy eaters so they eat all kinds of meat. Turkeys eat animals like snakes, frogs, mice etc.
Turkeys are very good snake hunters.
They prey on snakes like rattlesnakes in the forest and overgrown weed often.
You should however note that turkeys can only kill small snakes. If your turkeys are exposed to big snakes, they will most likely be bitten or eaten.
Are snakes afraid of turkeys?
Turkeys kill small snakes when they find them and these snakes have come to recognize turkeys as predators.
This makes turkeys frightening to them and will avoid them at all costs.
Turkeys are not even afraid of chasing away some snakes that are a little bit big from what they might consider their territory.
So maybe not all snakes are afraid of turkeys, but some definitely are.
Want to learn all about turkeys and how to raise them?
Do turkeys keep snakes away?
Yes, turkeys keep snakes away.
If you have a lot of turkeys in your yard, they will kill the snakes there and other snakes will be scared of coming around your property.
Turkeys will group around a snake they find and harass it out of your land, that’s if they don’t eat it first.
Many farmers have given their testimony on how their turkeys were able to get rid of snakes on their farms.
It is advisable you prevent snakes from coming to your farm, instead of relying solely on turkeys.
Cut the grasses around your property, grow plants that snakes hate and make sure your yard isn’t attractive to snakes in any way.
Big snakes can bite and kill turkeys so you can’t rely on turkeys alone to keep your property free of snakes.
Do wild turkeys eat snakes?
Yes, wild turkeys eat snakes. To be honest, wild turkeys will eat just about anything they get their hands on, or to be more accurate, their beaks.
Wild turkeys kill and eat all kinds of snakes.
Many have seen them eating rattle snakes, garter snakes and blacksnakes. Just about any snake they can successfully kill.
What kind of birds kill snakes?
Surprisingly a lot of birds attack and kill snakes.
Most them eat snakes too. Birds of prey, water birds and even domestic birds kill snakes.
Eagles, owls and hawks are some of the notorious snake eaters that we have.
Interestingly domestic birds like chickens, ducks and geese are not left out too. It makes one wonder how they do it.
Some eagles are specialized in killing and eating snakes.
They are called snake eaters. Some species in Africa even specialize in eating venomous ones.
They have large talons with thickened skin which prevent the snakes from biting them.
The Hawks are able to kill snakes because of their incredible speed and large talons.
They eat both venomous and non venomous snakes.
The mongoose is more deadly because it can kill the king cobra.
A snake with a venom that can kill humans within 45 minutes. The bird is immune to it’s venom.
Are turkeys immune to snake venom?
No, turkeys are not immune to snake venom.
Turkeys will kill and eat snakes when they see them but sadly this encounter could go wrong too.
If the snakes finds an opportunity to bite the turkey and takes it, it will end badly for the turkey.
This is why you should try and much as possible to keep your environment and yard neat always in order not to attract snakes.
You shouldn’t just rely on the fact that your turkeys can kill snakes.
If snakes sneak up on them, it won’t end well.
Your fence should be sturdy and flushed to the ground too.
You should also make sure it doesn’t have grips snakes can easily use to climb into your yard.
Some animals are naturally immune to snake venom but unfortunately, your turkeys didn’t make that list.
How to keep turkeys safe from snakes?
There are lots of ways you can keep your turkeys safe from snakes and I’ll be discussing some.
1. Cut the grasses around your property.
The best way to keep your turkeys safe from turkeys is to ensure there are no hiding spots for snakes around your yard or near their coop.
Snakes can climb branches to drop on their coop and crawl in.
To avoid this cut all grasses and weed your yard. Make sure you eliminate all the potential hiding spots for a snake.
2. Control rodents.
One of the things that most attract snakes to a land or yard is rodents.
Snakes hunt and eat rodents and they will go to any length hunting and chasing them.
Make sure your yard and property is not harboring rodents. Keep your turkeys’ coop area rodent free.
You can do this by making sure the leftover feed of your turkeys are swept and packed away.
Rodents are attracted by leftovers and will flood your turkeys’ living environment if there are any there.
3. Grow plants that snakes hate.
Some plants have smells that snakes don’t like.
One of the ways you can keep snakes off your property and from your turkeys is to grow these plants. Some of them are marigold, garlic, onion and lemon grass.
4. Raise your turkeys’ coop.
You can keep your turkeys safe from snakes by raising the floor of their coop.
This hinders snakes from crawling in and gaining access to them.
Cover all holes and make sure you have a fence that can hinder snakes from getting into your land.
Conclusion.
Turkeys kill snakes.
They are not afraid of hunting them and sending them away from their territories.
Turkeys eat snakes too.
It isn’t surprising because a lot of birds kill and eat snakes.
Even chickens and ducks. Some birds eat venomous snakes and some even eat dead ones.
Wild turkeys eat snakes.
They aren’t picky eaters and basically eat anything edible.
Unfortunately however, snakes are not immune to snake venom.
They can be killed if bitten. This is why you should keep your turkeys safe from snakes.
You can do this by controlling rodents on your property and cutting grasses.
References.
https://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2006/11/turkey_external.html
