Going out on the back porch last night to let the dogs out, I caught a snake scurrying away from me. Megan immediately chased after it, and fearful that it could be poisonous and bite her, I quickly grabbed my shoe and swatted it. Once I knew it was dead, I put it in a jar and this morning I photographed it trying to figure out what kind it was. It looks like it is either a cottonmouth which is venomous, or a Florida brown snake- which is not. Cottonmouths usually stay close to water and there is a ditch/creek directly behind my house, but the rains lately have brought out all kinds of critters.

So far, I have found several snakes on my property. There is the one that scared the mailman, a pygmy rattler by the garage door, the corn snake who took refuge inside my grill, and an assortment of other snakes, mostly garters. If I see the bands running the length of the snake typical of garters, I usually recover quickly after the initial start. It is when I immediately recognize it as dangerous- like the rattler, or when I don't know what it is that I get a bit freaked out.