I have found racers to vary quite a bit in behavior from one individual to the next. Some will vibrate their tails in leaves when alarmed, others will immediately flee as fast as they can, others will attempt to zig toward you rapidly and sometimes reverse directions a couple of times as a way to confuse you assuming you are a predator (this is the chasing behavior people talk of), and some will calmly lay there until you touch them.

viridis - thanks for the info. I've seen many pictures of adult Copperheads and a couple in real life, but just wasn't sure what they looked like when very young. There is a park in the North Georgia mountains called Unicoi State Park where you can visit Anna Ruby Falls which is a nice, fairly easy hike, and very beautiful. About 20 years ago I saw a Copperhead sunning itself on the rocks at the falls with people all around. Recently someone told me that there is now a warning sign on the trail for Copperheads.

Hello, Thanks everyone :) Wanye - I too finally came to the conclusion that it was a blotched water snake. I did not get help from my local wildlife center. I sent in the image and was told that it was a dimaond back. I knew this was not correct. I was then told it was the blotched water snake by - Clint at Texassnakes.net. He was very nice and quite helpful (SUPER NICE GUY). The animal control officer that I sent the image to, said it was a yellow belly water snake, whatever - I dont care as long as it is not a cottonmouth. I have let the snake alone - and will purchase some tongs if I need to relocate it because my husband just cannot come to grips with a water snake in our yard. Otherwise - it is free to live in my garden. Besides with the water source, if he were to kill this one, there would just be more anyway, especially since I have seen the babies for two summers now. Me and my fourteen year old daughter are perfectly ok with being bitten by a non-venomous snake. It only hurts for a little while, not much more than a bee sting in my humble opinion. Speeking of bee stings - I hate to kill things - so much -that a couple of years ago - I moved a honey bee hive (see I truly do hate to kill) I called a couple of beekeepers, and no one would come out - so I moved them myself :)-(Thank God my husband was working in Japan - he would have totally freaked out on this one too) Only ended up with two stings - and that is because when I went back for the second load of bees, guess I did not get the queen the first time. I was too lazy to tape my sleeves to my gloves. I moved them a couple of blocks away to a open field. I looked so funny carrying a box of bees, dressed all in white - and having a hat and my husbands old jersey stretched over it, I had to peek through the holes in the shirt. (my home made version of a bee keepers suit:) I can only imagine what the people driving down the main road where thinking!!! Back to the snakes. I would like to know however - are they agressive by nature, or only if provoked? Meaning, do they try to reatreat if given the chance, or do they stand their ground - there are only a few of these types snakes that I am aware of, but not sure about the water snakes. Thanks for all the help - RT

Sharon, I am a devoted snake lover and hate to see dead snakes posted like this, but I always consider the bigger picture and benefit of responding positively. Amylynn had a serious concern if the snake was dangerous or not. If she didn't, she wouldn't have posted it here. Remember, the real "snake haters" of the world will kill the snake and not really care if was venomous or not because "the only good snake is a dead snake". They don't post questions. The people posting questions are trying to gain information so they can make more informed decisions in the future. Criticizing people here for seeking information may be counterproductive. Hopefully, Amylynn will NOT kill the next racer she finds because of the help she gained here. So even though this racer died, it may have died for a cause.