First I have to marvel at the fact that there is a chicken forum, I guess there is a forum for every subject possible.
Ingenious idea as you say you don't want to have one at face level when lifting eggs.
While I do not like snakes one bit, especially having lived with some of the most poisonous and deadly snakes in the world, I also think of the downside of not having them around. In your case what other predator is there that would adequately keep the rodent population under control.
So I would be more inclined to do catch and release but release where?
If you follow the point someone on that forum made of relocating them to do what they made for, then they for sure not close enough to do it to your benefit.
Killing them also not.
I also cannot help but think baited traps only serves to attract them even more than normal if I was to be baiting it would be away from coop so there is least connection.
I tend to think along the lines of increasing their natural predator to bring back balance.
Also aside from rattler in your face at egg collection time, effort put into prevention needs to be on a par to experienced loss rather than prevention for sake of it. The in your face thing would be the bigger issue of all to me. That comes back to can you engineer the coop such that eggs roll to a location where no snake can get to??? Not sure that's easy to do given egg has to enter where ever that will be and do so on its own.
Interesting side effect of living where you are.
Yup I guess I am back to bait and blast them out of existence and do the same for the rodent. Lol
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