Snake in the Hen House

Mike got a surprise when he went to gather eggs this afternoon. Curled up in the 4th nest box was this handsome specimen of Elaphe obsoleta linheimeri - also known as a Texas Rat Snake or Chicken Snake (for obvious reasons).
Surprisingly, Mike did NOT have a heart attack when he opened the nest box and saw the snake. Instead he calmly came to get me where I was hoeing in the garden and announced "There's a snake in one of the nest boxes". When I asked which one, he answered "In front of where the s*** is on the floor". OK, so he wasn't as calm as I thought.
He said he would help me re-locate it down the road if I would ride in the bed of the truck.
I did convince him to get close enough to take a picture.
Sissy.
I needed to get the mail anyway, so I carried it down to the end of our very long driveway and released it in the weeds across the road. He didn't have a bulge indicating that he had scarfed an egg, and I THINK the chicks are too big to eat now (but he still might have killed one and tried).
We will need to be better about keeping the henhouse door closed. After 2 years of chicken raising, we have NOT found a snake before now. We were lucky - THIS TIME.
nodp