I don't know exactly where you live, but I"ll take a shot at the snake. According, to my Nat. Aud. Reptile book. It looks like it could be a Glossy Snake, maybe a Kansas Glossy snake. That is only a guess. I bet someone will know. And, yes, that is a Snapping Turtle. Great pictures.

Sorry i totally forgot to put my state! LOL....I really meant to do that. I live in southern middle Tennessee. Thanks for helping with the Id's. I saw it when the birds kept flying and hovering over the road and they were all giving alarm calls. So i grabbed the binoculars and saw this big snake trying to get across the road. Poor thing got hit before i even got out there. We have a lot of different rodents around here and i imagine it was helping control the population. Glad you liked the pictures :-)
Bonnie

Alright,we obviously need someone better at snake IDs than me. You live in TN, no Glossy snakes there. The next closest my book"s pictures show might be a Bullsnake. I only have one snake book, and might not be the best. It fits right size-wise, but not so much on color. Sorry I can't help more.

Poor snake :(

Great photos, animals and plants both - loved the Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed), Lonicera sempervirens (trumpet/coral honeysuckle), and is that wood lily?

For the snake id, you might want to post on Reptiles and Amphibians (one of the forums listed at the top of the Wildlife Gardening page).

I always wonder when people have water on their property if there are lots of mosquitoes. Are they a problem (to the extent of preventing outdoor activity)?

- wd

Thanks Well Drained :-) Yes the mosquitoes did limit outdoor activity until i really loaded the water with mosquito dunks and i walked around all day today watering and weeding and didnt even get one mosquito bite! I was so happy.
I didnt even think about posting on the Reptiles forum so i will definitely do that. It was a pretty big snake and it kept raising its head up at the birds that were dive bombing it.
I love coral honeysuckle and i just planted five of them around my fence. I also planted two Amethyst falls wisteria and three Cross vines and two Carolina jasmines. I know as they get bigger they will provide nesting sites for the birds and food. I do not beleive that is a wood lily but i would be so excited if it were. One of my friends divided hers and gave me a few and they have the prettiest color.
Bonnie

bonnieblueyes-

Your photos are wonderful! My favorite is the 2 birds sitting on the tub. Looks like they are kissing. How sweet! And your flower photos are beautiful. The snake and bug pictures....well the photography is great, but my goodness, I consider myself to be fairly brave in the face of most bugs - I can squash 'em with the best of 'em. However, when the bugs begin to approach the size of a small bird and they have hair of their own and small things that resemble horns....things change. YUCK!!! I get the heebie-jeebies just looking at your snake and dragonfly photos (again the quality of the photos is fantastic, but the yuk factor simply got the best of me).
As for reptilia ....let me just say - NO!!! I adore anything with fur (okay maybe not bugs with fur), I can tolerate things with feathers and fins...but ANYTHING that falls into the reptile category (except for garden toads) HAS GOT TO GO!!! YYYYEEESSSSHHHHHH!!!

However, I think it's very kind that you took that stray turtle to your pond. Let's hope he eats up all those ugly bugs.

BooBooBearBecky

Your turtle is definitely a snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) and your snake is actually a black ratsnake (Pantherophis obsoleta). Black ratsnakes often retain their pattern instead of becoming jet black as many pictures of them suggest.
~Mike

Thank you BooBooBearBecky! Glad you liked most of the pics. LOL....I usually dont like bugs much either but i sure do like dragonflies. I have also read that they eat mosquitoes and their larva so that makes me very happy. I like reptiles pretty much tho unless its a snake IN my house. That would freak me out! LOL...Usually they just do their thing and dont bother with me.

Thank you Mike on the positive ID's of the turtle and snake. I meant to post the snake pics on the Reptile forum but i got distracted. I was really surprised to see such a large snake. Usually the ones i see are small. This one was long and about as thick as my fist and it kept rearing its head up at the birds that were swooping at it. We do have lots of field mice and other rodents scurrying around so that could explain how big he was. Thanks again :-)
Bonnie