Garter snake=harmless. Cotton mouth= Yikes! Too scary, countrycarolyn. I had an uncle from Ohio that was came to visit us in Alabama to hunt. We took him up to Mt. Cheaha where we saw some guy trying to capture a HUGE (my young mind remembers it being about 5' long, but I don't was know what it was in reality) rattlesnake alive so he could take it to some lady who milked the venom and did research. I guess she was not normal, having a hobby like that. My uncle hates snakes and decided right then and there that Alabama was a No Hunting Zone. I was amazed when I moved to NH that there are NO native poisonous snakes. NONE! Hard to believe. My 11yo daughter can catch snakes with her hands. I guess she's not normal, either. This week in the garden we saw a big garter snake with a huge bulge in its body. Don't know what it had for dinner, but it looked like it was about the size of a mole or vole. What a helpful snake! P.S. Once in Alabama there was a small rattle snake underneath my bed. I have no idea how it got there, but it was quite a surprise to see it staring at me when I went to get a box out. Remembering my parents' adrenaline-pumped strategy to kill the thing is still a hysterical memory. I'm not too scared of snakes, and they would have been better off letting me try to catch it, but then I would have missed out on one of the most hysterically funny episodes of my childhood. The best paid comedy writer couldn't have made it any funnier.

No thanks Larry. Our older dog managed to kill 6 baby rabbits this spring but he didn't get all of them because when I was hand watering the peas this morn early I ran two the same size out of a 20 ft section. Then when DH was mowing this afternoon he ran one completely out of the garden and into the woods. And the dogs of course were way at the other end of the yard asleep under a bush.

If in doubt, call a pro - the zoo, university or local animal care, but there is a good article at www.gartersnake.info/articles/2008/garter-snakes-in-winter.php. Putting it outside in the winter, if he can't get himself below the frost line, could kill him. Here is a link that might be useful: Garter Snakes in Winter

Thank you! Hopefully the snake didn't have any deep puncture wounds from the cat's fangs and will make a full recovery. This is why I loathe free-ranging cats; they kill indiscriminately, for no reason other than the pleasure of killing, and they kill far more beneficial animals than pest rodent species. I keep my three cats indoors, so as to avoid being part of that huge problem, as well as to keep THEM from being attacked by larger predators.