The snake

Today - Friday
Since we now live in the country, Ella was able to fullfil a lifelong dream of hers and get some kittens. Found some free ones on Craigslist (where else?) and now we have four little bundles of fur running around. We saw a coyote a couple mornings ago in the top pasture right at the fence so we hope we still have four kittens for awhile.
Ian and John ran into town to get a TV tonight - it was a battle but John insisted on having a TV in the bedroom but NO cable. That will remain the only TV in the house for watching movies and Survivor (which we can buy on itunes and download with no commercials) Cool.
Anyhow after they left, Ella and I realized we hadn't gathered any eggs for a couple days so we decided to run out in the dark to the chicken coop and bring them in. I grabbed a flashlight and when I shined it in to the coop, I saw the chickens and noticed a very VERY long black tail hanging out of the coop. A GIANT snake was in with the chickens eating the eggs. They were very calm - I freaked out. I bolted back to the house and incoherently screamed something into the phone at John (Ian was laughing hysterically) about an anaconda sized snake (well... it SEEMED like it) who luckily was just driving down the road to the house. We snatched up some flashlights, a hoe and a shovel and headed out to kill the egg-sucking fiend. OK....so maybe he wasn't as big as I had remembered but he WAS 6 feet long, it was dark and really that's enough to justify my complete snake spaz out which I will never hear the end of.
So my well-armed manly men head into the chicken house and "trap" the snake in the coop. It immediately slithers right out and past the two shovel-bearing sissies who were, according to their story, waiting for the perfect moment to kill it. As they waited, it dissappeared through an opening at the bottom of the wall and, well fed on my eggs, slithered off into the night. Well... we know where it will be tomorrow night - anyone know the best snake killing tool?