Hi, Karalynn! What a little beauty! Juvenile snakes can be tricky, but I THINK this is a yellow rat snake. I'm going to post a link to the pictures over on the herp forum to get a more expert opinion. What I CAN tell you is that it is harmless, and definitely not a rattler of any kind, a coral snake, copperhead nor cottonmouth. As to why it was so docile, I suspect it was cold. My son fished a banded water snake out of his pond one morning last week, when the pond had ice around the edges, and it was almost in a stupor. He put it in a sunny spot to warm up, and it probably would have died if he hadn't seen it listlessly trying to swim to the edge of the pond. Later in the day, this baby might have put up a much stronger protest at being handled. Will let you know what Wayne, Mike or one of the other REAL snake experts says, but my best guess is a baby yellow rat snake. Thanks for sharing the pics!! Marcia

Sorry I wasn't around earlier to help calm you down, Nova. Been up to see Felix today (had a MAHVELOUS time!) and missed your post until a few minutes ago when I got home. But look how well you have done without me. It is definitely a Florida banded water snake, completely harmless, no matter what Tony thinks about him being so big! ;o) He's a fine snake to have around. No CHEEK STRIPE, as babalu noticed, so not a cottomouth. Not a rattlesnake and not a coral snake, so you were home free at that point. So glad you didn't post a picture of him with his snakie little head bashed in, Nova. You are to be congratulated on your restraint. (I know it can be hard when you are instinctively afraid of them). Way to go! Marcia

The timing of this thread is uncanny. I checked out the new postings this A.M. (this forum is usually my first stop) and read this thread. Midday I was in the garage potting up new cuttings and saw what I thought was a large worm in the concrete expansion joint. Looked more closely and, remembering the pictures here, recognized my "worm" as a Florida brown snake. I urged it on its way out of the garage by gently touching the end of its tail with a pencil. It very slowly headed toward the open garage door. Then it decided it didn't care for the pencil and gathered up its little body as if to strike. I backed off but when it seemed reluctant to move out I switched to a broom (my hand proved too close to the pencil to suit me). Eventually the little guy made it to the grass (and I closed the garage door!). June

If I were in that situation, I would fill the pumps container with water to flush him out. then immeadiatly apply a screen before he could get back in. Then set up some type of area in the yard to hold water for his use somewhere els if that is why he goes in there. If he is just looking for shelter then maybe a small wood pile in the back of the yard or something like that. I spotted my first snake her a few weeks ago. It was a black racer. Been here 5 years and that is all I have seen. I go looking for him every day now but no luck seeing him again. I hope to have better luck once I put in a frog pond!