Thanks everyone! I am glad we have a good guy :) Even my hubby got convinced. I hope this snake will eat more slugs and less earthworms in my garden. I've never seen a mouse here except gifts from our cat... Thanks again for helping me with this!

Marcia, Please help me find out what kind of snake I came across today. While I was at the local dog park (near Orlando) I came across a yellow with black stripes snake. It looked to be between 3.5-4 feet long and did not appear at first glance (that was all I gave it out of fear) to be shiny. I was about 3 feet from it and didn't know it until my dog almost stepped on it. She obviously didn't see it either. The snake seemed a pit peeved about the whole thing but it decided not to attack and to slowly slither towards ME to get away from my dog. Needless to say, I took off in a different direction real quick and hollered for my dog to follow. I am not like you or others on this site. I am not a fan of snakes and am extremely afraid of them. Although, I don't mind the black racers that seem to have taken up permanent residence in MY back yard and they love to procreate often (or so it seems). I have seen a lot less field rats since the racers moved in and that makes me very happy. Anyway, can you help me figure out what this snake was? I have spent hours and hours online tonight trying to find it and just can't seem to find anything that looks like it. I am guessing that it is not dangerous to me or my dogs??? I am scared to take my dogs back through those woods that they so dearly love. As soon as I told them, "No more woods until the snakes are gone again," they "told" me to find it if it was dangerous or not and if it isn't that they want to go back again. So that is mostly why I am asking you for your help. We all love the walks but I am afraid of the snakes. Please help me feel safer about going back. Thanks in advance for your help.

I've always known them as yellow ribbon snakes. They are often found wrapped around "an old oak tree". ;>)

I know we've seen before where people on this forum had totally opposite experiences, but this one really surprises me. I've only kept 2 king snakes in captivity, but both I and everyone I've known who has had one have always been amazed at the voracious appetites of even wild-caught captive king snakes. One of mine would eat anything moving you put in front of it. Of course, don't keep the 2 mentioned in these 2 posts just because I say this, but I've always thought of all the getula species as eating "everything but the kitchen sink". Prairie (calligaster) are a different story, I've never seen them do well in captivity. Black kings picky? They remind me more of Professor Klump. Oh well. Evan