Thanks -
RT

Please put it elsewhere so he doesn't kill it. Or get someone to help you? Sad to think a harmless creature will die because of someone's ignorance.

I made him wait until I was able to post the images.
I see snakes all the time while I am working in the yard, however he happened to be helping me with the mulch and freaked out.

If he only knew - how many little garden snakes we have.
He is really only home weekends - he travels with work - so I think they are pretty safe.
He took this week off (first one in years) to help around the house a bit, but ... he is high maintenance :)

I said I would post - just to appease his need for verification.

Anyway - thanks for the info. I think I have found the snake on the link below.
I think it is a blotched water snake.

I have been snake bitten - not much worse than a bee sting.
And, they only strike if provoked.. so - It is free to stay in my garden as long as it likes.
I just wanted to give him the info - so that he quit freaking out already.

RT

I do not like to kill anything I do not have to - snakes are very important to gardeners, however if it is a cottonmouth - it is deadly :(

I think I will pass the pic on to our local outdoor learning center, and see what they think.

Thanks for the help.
RT

I thought Northern because I live in NJ : ). I did not realize you are southwest. But I was right about the watersnake part.

It's a harmless Blotched (Plainbelly) Water Snake.

I have let the snake alone - and will purchase some tongs if I need to relocate it because my husband just cannot come to grips with a water snake in our yard.
Otherwise - it is free to live in my garden.
Besides with the water source, if he were to kill this one, there would just be more anyway, especially since I have seen the babies for two summers now.

Me and my fourteen year old daughter are perfectly ok with being bitten by a non-venomous snake. It only hurts for a little while, not much more than a bee sting in my humble opinion.

Speeking of bee stings - I hate to kill things - so much -that a couple of years ago - I moved a honey bee hive (see I truly do hate to kill)
I called a couple of beekeepers, and no one would come out - so I moved them myself :)-(Thank God my husband was working in Japan - he would have totally freaked out on this one too)
Only ended up with two stings - and that is because when I went back for the second load of bees, guess I did not get the queen the first time. I was too lazy to tape my sleeves to my gloves. I moved them a couple of blocks away to a open field.
I looked so funny carrying a box of bees, dressed all in white - and having a hat and my husbands old jersey stretched over it, I had to peek through the holes in the shirt. (my home made version of a bee keepers suit:) I can only imagine what the people driving down the main road where thinking!!!

Back to the snakes.
I would like to know however - are they agressive by nature, or only if provoked?
Meaning, do they try to reatreat if given the chance, or do they stand their ground - there are only a few of these types snakes that I am aware of, but not sure about the water snakes.

Thanks for all the help -
RT

Fat chance!
If I am on my hands and knes, doing some gardening, and any reptile, not the least a snake sucked on to my hand, or any other body part for that matter, I would jerk my hand faster than you could say; "Ohh, so cute."

I would not give the condition of the snakes teeth a second thought, not then, not later.

Snakes (even venomous snakes) will look to escape before anything else. Some species, like the Cottonmouth, are notorious for standing their ground; still, they will not pursue you.

"I would not give the condition of the snakes teeth a second thought, not then, not later."

Enjoy the bloody gashes across your hand, with bacteria-infested snake teeth embedded in them. Or...you could take the above advice and end up with a few tiny punctures.

-Todd

I guess I will, should it happen, that I, and so many more, because of our lack of snake cotyme, will endure our very own bloody rashes across our hands, because we did not have the "nerve of steel" to say "ohh botter," and kindly remove the little wiggler from our hands.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against snakes, and I find on occasion a yellow ringneck or a garter snake in my yard. What I am getting at, is the fact that I think most people would apply the "jerk reaction" to any snake bite.

sisunor_2007: "I would not give the condition of the snakes teeth a second thought, not then, not later."

Spoken like a true snake-lover...

-Todd

This is probably the last forum I would expect to get into a discussion with a "Jack Hannah," but again, why I am suprised??

Again, "Todd" seems to be quite the man here when it comes to handling snakes, that for whatever reason should attach itself to a any body part, that is, to a body part,belonging no doubt, to one of the extremely few, that would not have those long developed garden nerves of steel, like our friend "Todd" has developed over a long life pruning roses and spreading mulch.

Well, for my snap reaction to any snake bite, and I have endured one back in the 80s from a Palestinian Viper, I am truly sorry, that I also back then jerked my hand, as the snake bit, guess my nerves got the better of me, even back then....

Well to all the rest, that would not be so foolish, i beg your pardon.

Have a good summer, and remember, no sudden hand movements, should a snake launch at you, not to mention bite, because: "-Todd" said so.

I never denied the instinct to pull away your hand; it's something I've done many times. My problem was that when someone suggested that it perhaps could have negative effects for the snake, you commented that you would never give the snake's condition a second thought. It's one thing to acknowledge that you may cause harm to the snake, but to say that you won't even attempt to refrain from it is what stirred my juices.

Either way, my name really is Todd...not quite sure why you put it in quotes.

-Todd