Ok - Here is how I recieved my first snake bit (for those curious) I knew it was going to happen (even before I stuck my hand in the aquarium). A friend of mine ran a apartment complex in Georgia. He had found a Red Tail Boa in a apartment that had escaped, and the owner had been evicted. He took it home, put it in a 10 gallon aquarium, the snake was a good 5' or more. He had crammed the tank full of towels, and put in a hot rock, and had a 150W light bulb shining in the poor snakes face 24 hours a day (for warmth he said) He added a coffee cup of water for the snake to drink out of - and of course - the snake had tipped it over. David, while his intentions were good - he was afraid of the snake. He had not fed it, and it was "not happy" I knew that I was going to get nailed before I even put my hand in the tank to remove the wet towels, and clean up the water. The snake did exactly what I expected him to do. He struck me, and wrapped my arm very quickly. I stood there (my daughter watching) with a snake stuck to my arm. I gently pryed his mouth from my arm - and after cleaning the cage, returned him to it. I made sure not to even cringe - as I did not want my daughter to develop a fear of snakes! I never made a sound, and I think my calmness helped both me, the snake, and my daughter. I told Richard and his elderly mother that the snake needed to be with someone familiar with handeling snakes (I had grown up with boa's because my brother had one when I was a little girl) They sold me the snake, I put it on a plane to Texas, took it to my brother - who then placed it with a person who handles boa's and takes them to schools as a part of a teaching program. I have a fondness of snakes, and would hate to kill it unless it poses a danger to our lives. My snake bite was expected, thankfully I do not meet any of the "reasons that people get snake bitten" - but thanks for posting - because I think you are exactly correct. Most (but not all) snake bites are due to stupidity - many of the others are probably just due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. We almost stepped on that poor snake in my images before we noticed it. Its only defense would have been to strike - this would have just been - being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Thank goodness for all of us - our situation ended up ok. I will just have to keep a closer eye out before I go treading through my garden. RT

Definitely a Burmese, not a reticulated. Reticulated Pythons pattern is more diamond-like, not round blotches like this.

Very gravid(pregnant) and harmless female Northern Water Snake(Nerodia sipedon). These feed on fish and amphibians and are harmless, although if grabbed or handled roughly, they will bite in self-defense and spray foul-smelling musk. She is probably seeking a sheltered spot to give birth, since she looks like she's about to explode! I keep and breed several species of Nerodia, including these, as pets, and they tame down very quickly if handled gently. You have nothing to worry about from this girl.

Second what fhfchrish already said-harmless Diamondback Water Snake(Nerodia rhombifer). This is a very common and often-large snake found in TX. Like the Brown Water Snake, they have slightly "bug" eyes that are situated almost on top of the head, in contrast to the eyes of a Cottonmouth, which are down on the side and have a flattened scale that protrudes out over the top of the eye like a visor(and serves the same purpose), so that the eyes can't be seen when the head is viewed from above, especially from behind the head. NO snake, including venomous species, are just going to charge up to someone and bite for no reason. Snakes bite only when they feel threatened and have no means of escape, and some won't even bite then. Water Snakes have a bad reputation for being quick to bite if grabbed or picked up, but I've found that if handled gently, most will not bite at all and become tame very quickly. A Water Snake bite doesn't hurt, but it will bleed quite a bit due to anticoagulants in their saliva, and that seems to have a positive effect of flushing out any bacteria, but again, you have to corner and grab or hurt the snake to get it to bite.