Marcia, Please help me find out what kind of snake I came across today. While I was at the local dog park (near Orlando) I came across a yellow with black stripes snake. It looked to be between 3.5-4 feet long and did not appear at first glance (that was all I gave it out of fear) to be shiny. I was about 3 feet from it and didn't know it until my dog almost stepped on it. She obviously didn't see it either. The snake seemed a pit peeved about the whole thing but it decided not to attack and to slowly slither towards ME to get away from my dog. Needless to say, I took off in a different direction real quick and hollered for my dog to follow. I am not like you or others on this site. I am not a fan of snakes and am extremely afraid of them. Although, I don't mind the black racers that seem to have taken up permanent residence in MY back yard and they love to procreate often (or so it seems). I have seen a lot less field rats since the racers moved in and that makes me very happy. Anyway, can you help me figure out what this snake was? I have spent hours and hours online tonight trying to find it and just can't seem to find anything that looks like it. I am guessing that it is not dangerous to me or my dogs??? I am scared to take my dogs back through those woods that they so dearly love. As soon as I told them, "No more woods until the snakes are gone again," they "told" me to find it if it was dangerous or not and if it isn't that they want to go back again. So that is mostly why I am asking you for your help. We all love the walks but I am afraid of the snakes. Please help me feel safer about going back. Thanks in advance for your help.

I am sorry to revive an old thread, but I made this account specifically to clear up some of the misinformation you guys have going on here. I found this page through google and it was in the top ten results for "Eastern Kentucky Snake". And the type of information you guys got going up above this post CAN and WILL get people hurt or KILLED!! No offense, well, actually ALL OFENSE, wayne222 you are/were a fool who spreads misinformation about things you have no idea about! Stop being an arm chair expert. It is obvious to anyone who knows better that not only have you never lived in Eastern Kentucky, but you must not have ever been to or known someone from here either. If you had spent as much time in our vast natural wilderness like you say you have, then you would know better. Not only do we have a very very large poisonous snake population here in Eastern Kentucky, but it is a very serious problem. We may only have 4 types, sure. But there are so many of these types that living here you will deal with them regularly. There are three types of snakes you will see a lot of and those are yellow banded king snakes, not a threat of course as they kill and eat other poisonous snakes, then there is the PIT viper (yes PIT viper wayne222 named for the heat seeking pits on the front of their heads) and copper heads. The pit vipers in question are Eastern Diamondbacks. There are so many that the folks around here have different names for the different colors they come in. The people here know that if you go through the woods being loud and talking, stomping or whatever you will likely drive off any rattlers. BUT the copper heads DO NOT RUN!! They will try and blend themselves in and hide. That is why they are dangerous. If you get too close they are very very aggressive. A rattle snake will only run so far as well. If you get too close to where they are hiding BAM they may or may not rattle first. NEVER go into the woods without a stick and/or pistol. NEVER put your hands or step where you can't see. My step dad was digging for roots this year and didn't pay attention in a black cohosh patch. He was bit on the thumb by copper head and lost a sizable chunk of flesh from it. I am an avid gardener and raise a sizable garden every single year and I have been doing that since I was old enough to swing a hoe. I kill at least 10 rattlers/copperheads every year. Why do you guys think we have so many snake handling churches here? And let me tell you, there are A LOT of snake handling churches. Just this year alone, two of my dogs were snake bit in my own yard. One happened recently and looks like she might not pull through. I have already had a snake church come through and catch a hand full of snakes on my property, and I have killed my usual 10 or so. WE ARE OVER RUN!! WE NEED ST PATRICK!!! Let me tell you this. If my dog dies, you will be hearing about a new St Patrick movement right here in the good ol blue grass state.

Yeah, kidhorn2, WHY? Is it THAT difficult to simply learn something about snakes, and how to ID them? Seriously, I've taught second graders to do that, and we have quite a few venomous species in the Southeast where I live. You aren't exactly making yourself out to seem very intelligent by that statement. Explain to me this logic: if you know for a fact that dogs kill an average of 30 people per year in the US and send another 3 MILLION to the hospital, whereas snakes kill less than 5 people on average per year, why does it make more sense to hate snakes and not dogs? I can look at a snake and tell right away if it's venomous, and therefore potentially dangerous, but even a lifetime growing up around dogs and breeding dogs has not allowed me to be able to glance at a random dog and determine if that dog will bite or attack. I have far more reason to be concerned about a dog, than a snake. Even with a venomous snake, I have tools that allow me to safely pick it up and relocate it. It's easier, believe me, to pick up a large rattler than an angry 30-pound dog, and I've done both.

Okay, so I'm not a "country girl". But I think you are being very unfair to the OP. When one builds in the country, one accepts many things but I don't think snakes slithering around ones house need to one of them. If one has dogs and cats, snakes can be a real danger to them. Learning what to keep away from being directly up against the house (a pile of firewood) an other things only makes sense. May who live in the country, fence off a smaller area for their dogs - they don't want them out of sight in the woods for innumerable reasons. There is nothing wrong with this. And there is nothing wrong with trying to snake-proof that area as much as is reasonable. I remember the Six Flags opened outside of St Louis - it was in what was then (nearly 50 years ago!) a very rural area. Copperheads were a major problem and people who visit theme parks don't expect to encounter them. The local newspaper had articles on all that they did (deep fencing, snake repellent) to keep snakes out of the park. It did not always work, and a child was bitten by a copperhead. He survived but I"m betting there was a huge lawsuit. Some people just don't like snakes and I'm sure one. Since I was a child, I will NOT sit down on a toilet without first looking in the bowl. Somehow as a very small child, someone must have told me a story about a snake coiled in the toilet biting someone. It's just an image I cannot end. I had a snake in my garden pond a few years ago, and it undid me. I'm not terribly fond of spiders but don't scream. If a mouse startles me, I am "startled" but again, no screams. If I saw a snake in or directly outside my house, for me it would be like that common nightmare where one wants to scream and is too terrified to get out a sound. I'm human - I have my frailties just like everyone else. Mine happens to be snakes.