I'm not sure if this is where I can post a related question... I live in SW Missouri and was hoeing some weeds beside my house and accidentally chopped a small snake in two. I've identified it as a Midland Brown Snake. I noticed the mortally injured snake, though only 7 or 8 inches long, had babies wriggling out of its belly. So I pulled all of them out and carefully placed them into a jar. There are about a dozen that are still alive. I've had them about 3 hours now. Any suggestions on what to feed them? They're about the size of a toothpick and I can't imagine they could feed themselves on their own. I'm wondering if earthworms cut into tiny pieces would work for them...

That picture is good enough for a definitive identification. Your snake is a juvenile black rat snake or juvenile gray rat snake. Oak snake is the common local name for gray rat snakes. Juvenile black rat snakes and gray rat snakes both look like gray rat snakes and the gray rat snake maintains its pattern throughout its life while black rat snakes lose their distinctive patterning and become all black with a white underside as they age and get larger. Given your location in northeast Georgia it is more likely to be a juvenile black rat snake or an intergrade between the black and gray rat snake. In any rate it is most definitely a rat snake. They are harmless.

Yes he is that. The guy who caught it for me said 'rattlesnake' and the animal control who came to take it away to release it said 'copperhead'. The problem is I can not find a pic of a copperhead that looks like it. It did look like it had a little rattle on the tail but never made noise-didn't even coil up. It stood its ground like a copperhead though. (Not that I have had any experience with either). The only pic I found that had that 'chestnut color' stripe going down his back was a timber rattlesnake. I live in Harlem Ga and didn't think we had them here? He/she was about 18-20 inches (I didn't get close enough to measure).

Thanks all for responses. I didn't think you all would react like you did. I didn't mean any harm to the reptile community that day, and being a wildlife major in the Warner School of Forestry at U of Ga. I understood the preservation of natures creatures too. I love snakes and the reptile community very much and have learned how to overcome fear of snakes and others by knowing them inside and out. Maybe not as much as you all do though. At that moment though, my thoughts were, am I fast enough to ward off a strike to the head or neck from this Canebrake? Upper body strikes are the worst, as you all know. There were a lot of people in that area that morning on top of it all, and I made the decision against the snake. As time goes by, however, I wouldn't do that again now. It's true, the snake was communicating to me he wasn't intending harm to me through it all, I saw that too. I can communicate with most wildlife by actions, even bees. Let me know more about your thoughts if you want.