Well...I appreciate all your responses, and I'm going to assume it's a common garter snake...for my OWN peace of mind...LOL I believe he was so grumpy because of the flash from the camera...it probably scared the bejeezus out of'm. Plus...I'm wondering if it isn't the onset of hibernation time. I mean, afterall, he WAS way down under some pretty hard, clay covered by about 4" of mulch. He was probably sleeping...or getting his last full meal of night crawlers when I uncovered him. *I'm in SE PA, not Florida at the moment. He's gone now and I don't know where...hehehe...but I covered the hole back up with the mulch. BTW: When I let Picture it! automatically tweak the color and brightness levels, the colors of the snake were changed a bit. Here are two pics showing actual color...

Just take a look at this thread and comment there if you want. Thanks. Not very magnificent

a crushed leaf... for a brief second or two.. might smell like rootbeer but sometimes not ... but all 3 will smell the same.. if the same.. rootbeer or not... ken

Even new leaves in spring will show typical identifying characteristics. A doubly pinnate leaf will be doubly pinnate however young the leaf. A location and some clearer close up pictures would be helpful. If your location is truly 9b it is unlikely to be 'earpod' tree which is at home in zones 10 - 11. There are many Fabiaceae trees with similar pinnate leaves and I very much doubt a plant app can sort them out without other features such as flowers, fruit etc. and certainly not from these photos.