I've never seen an 8 ft coachwhip in Calif. They rarely get that long in other regions. Coachwhips change color somewhat as they mature. It sounds like you found a hatchling. They lay eggs. Some snakes bear live young, but not coachwhips. Some subspecies of coachwhips are popularly known as "red racers." At the moment I'm in AZ and away from my library to check your subspecies. They capture prey with their mouth and by hold it down with a loop of the body, but they're not constrictors. Snakes have recurved teeth to hold prey. A coachwhip is unlikely to capture and hold even the smallest dog, but the snakes can deliver a nasty bite. For you, you'd have to catch it to be bitten. I like your attitude: curious but not overreactive.

Sammy, Snakes seem to go wherever they choose. Given a choice, they'll stay in taller grass or undergrowth as opposed to shorter grass. However, they sure aren't shy about crossing bare ground or roadways or gravel driveways or anything. I see snakes everywhere here, but it varies a bit depending on the snakes. At our place (and the same may not be true everywhere), copperheads like to stay in the woods or just on the edge where the grassy open areas meet the wooded areas. They blend in very well with autumn leaves on the ground, mulch and shadows in dappled shade areas. The diamondback rattlesnakes here stay more along the creek banks and often are seen lying on the rocks. I usually only see Timber Rattlers in the woods, or in the shade of our pecan tree. Occasionally we see them crossing the road from our woodland to the pasture across the road. I've only had one right close to the house in the front yard once, and it was in the shade of the pecan tree. Water moccasins are more often in the big ponds (now dry) or the creeks, and in the smaller ponds we tend to just see some sort of harmless brown water snake. The non-venomous racers favor the shadey edges where woodland meets grassland, but they do like to come into the garden (as do the copperheads and rattlesnakes). The rough green snakes often perch in our tall shrubs and trees. I actually like them...I think they are pretty, and I DO NOT like snakes. I have made it a habit to ALWAYS look at the ground ahead of me/around me as we walk because we have tons of venomous snakes. I never pick up ANYTHING that is lying flat on the ground without using a garden tool to lift it up first to ensure a snake isn't under it. I don't stick my hands under mulch and I watch for snakes in plants (yes, they'll climb up into tall vigorous tomato or okra plants) when I pick tomatoes, peppers, okra, etc. I also don't stir my compost or turn it over between March and November when snakes are active here. Y'all may not have to worry about snakes as much as we do, but we are snake central here. Twice since we bought this property, an individual has been bitten by a copperhead on the property right next door to us and having seen what that was like...a very hard recovery....I don't ever want to experience it first-hand. Suzie, I love Possum Kingdom Lake, but it sure does have some really rugged areas around it. My heart sure does go out to this family. I cannot imagine the pain and grief they are feeling. And, you know, no matter how very, very careful you are, things happen. Dawn

In my opinion best advice is to seek treatment for phobia. I had a severe phobia of dogs that I had to get treated and it is very worth it and I think a lot of people that have more "socially acceptable phobias" (e.g. spiders or snakes rather than beloved dogs, people thought I was evil for being scared of dogs! even though I have been up to cottonmouths before and been fine, didn't bother me,... but as a kid I got CHASED DOWN by dogs and attacked so...). We share this world with a lot of creatures, it's something to get used to. Desensitization&exposure therapy is best to build yourself up first before you ever see one. That being said, eliminating brush piles in areas you frequent/maintain a lot, keeping it open will keep snakes out of those areas and make them favor more wild spots. Keeping things open tends to be best for the more cultivated areas of the garden anyway, to maintain airflow. ALSO snakes are often not very active in the day except after rains. They don't like being out in the open especially in the day because one of their main predators, hawks, can see them. I rarely see snakes around my house and I have a bunch of brush lol I've only seen them out at night (there's the cutest baby kingsnake but i digress). avoid times when snakes are most active and you'll be a lot less likely to see them. anyway best of luck treating your phobia, it's a hard road but very worth it to be free of it

Patrick, i call them water mocassins, but in reality they are cotton mouths. i do see a lot of people refer to ALL snakes as either a rattler or a mocassin, but i usually know the difference. :) i have 2 90 pound labs so they probably run off most of the snakes. i cannot stand cats, so i really do not want to go there. as to the catch and release or catch and kill, i prefer they be moved elsewhere if possible, but either one is really fine with me. i am not worried about non-posionous snakes, although they probably would cause my wife to hurt herself if she came up on one. hopefully this weekend i can get some more shrubs removed or shaped and burn a large limb pile. i think the biggest attraction for the snakes right now is the frogs around my house. hopefully i can get rid of the bugs, which will make the frogs go elsewhere, which in turn will cause the snakes to look elsewhere for food. i do not know if i mentioned it earlier, but both snakes had recently eaten rather large frogs. that is probably why they did not run off before i approached, they had their bellies full and just did not feel up to moving!