I'm sooo glad someone IDed that bugger I have one just like him (maybe bigger) in my yard, watch like a hawk to make sure he is not in my way. when they (I have more one)are around I swear I feel them so I can usualy scare them away. Last week I was out potting Plants and I needed more Pots which were a little distance away from where I was working. I headed to the pots. Well I felt that there was one close by soooo I very carefully eye out as far as my eye could see, didn't see anything so I thought to self "she is in a bush somewhere so I'm not going to worry. Sooo I by now I'm at the pots. I take one step forward and all of a suddon this huge snake wraps around my leg and I just about died, nothing but blood curling scream comes out of my mouth as I doing the chicken dance and there are pots flying all over the. I know in my knower that some are not poisonous but I could still die of a heart attack. Try as I have I can't seem to not be terrified Of them. That lawn mower deal sounds realy great HEHEHE Hi Kara I went to your plant swap My plants are doing awesome! thanks sooo much for letting me come. Carmen

I agree with everyone else. Baby black racer. Totally harmless. Yuliana, most vipers and other venomous snakes (but not ALL) do have vertical pupils, while non-venomous snakes have round ones. However, it isn't always easy to see the pupils of a snake's eyes. It's much better to be familiar with the 4 basic types of venomous snakes we have in Florida. If it's not one of them, you don't have to worry. And they are all 4 pretty EASY to ID. You'll notice I use the term "venomous" instead of "poisonous" when talking about snakes. That is because poison is something you ingest...you EAT a poisonous mushroom, for instance. Venom is something that is injected into you, via fangs or stingers, (like snakes and bees). So snakes aren't poisonous. At least none that I know of. You can eat rattlesnake meat all day long and it won't poison you. But some of them ARE venomous, and CAN inject you with a toxic venom. Voila...your biology lesson for the day, haha. Marcia

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.

Not trying to stir the pot, but both non posionous and even posionous snakes eat lots of pests we don't want in out gardens, sheds or homes. Killing them really isn't nessecary and they can be moved with a snake hook or even a shovel. Killing animals just because they are there and I don't like them seems like a poor excuse. No flame inteneded, but it would be better to throw them back in the woods. I've been bitten by a copperhead and it was my fault and I didn't kill him because he happened to be posionous and I was handling him incorrectly. I'm far from being a tree hugger, I hunt and fish, but don't think the idea of killing because you don't like an animal is very sporting. Garter snakes are great around the garden as they eat slugs and so will baby copperheads.