From the head shape, it is NOT a rattlesnake. that means it's a beneficial snake that will eat mice and voles and other pests.

This is a Brownsnake (Storeria dekayi). This is an adult. They are small, harmless insect eaters.

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.

Yah, a couple years back when I was pulling some weeds, I looked down and there was this snake coiled up and hissing at me about two feet from my face. Scared the snot out of me, but it wasn't rattling and didn't strike. I figure it was probably one of these guys. Like I said though, he scared me good. I ran to the garage for a shovel but by the time I got back, he was gone. Although this guy approached me and came within a couple feet of me, he never acted threatening in a any way even when I approached him. He just seemed to be on a mission and kept moving forward.