Good for you for not going into automatic kill mode like some people do when they're around wildlife they don't like. Besides, I think arming yourself with sharpened shovels, stomping around, and otherwise working yourself up like that will only make things worse. Snakes are not your enemies, they're your neighbors. (Though, the snake boots still might be a good idea just for a psychological barrier if nothing else.) I've got a wildlife biology degree, and I've worked as a park ranger, so I've been around plenty of snakes, and I live in Texas, so we've got all the venomous kinds you can find in North America (water moccassins, copperheads, rattlesnakes, and coral snakes), plus a whole bunch of non-venomous kinds. We've even got one that's federally listed as endangered, the indigo snake, though that doesn't stop people from killing them thinking they're dangerous. :-( I've gotten pretty close to snakes that I didn't see at first, and they have all took off as fast as their bellies could carry them. Even the venomous ones. Someone upstream said, "by the time you figure out what kind of snake it is, you would be bit" is NOT true in my experience. Or else how did I get all those photos of that baby copperhead that was hiding under someone's tent? Poor thing was frozen with terror. My point is even the venomous ones don't want to bite you unless they have no other option. After they use up their venom it takes a while to replenish, so they don't like wasting it by biting everything willy-nilly. So every snake I've ever seen in the wild was either already fleeing, or frozen-still hoping I wouldn't see it... often followed by fleeing. Of course, I know the phobia doesn't listen to reason. I'm just glad that you aren't planning a snake massacre. I admit I don't like to see anything killed for no good reason. To get rid of the phobia, I second what some people have said to try densensitizing yourself. Start small and gradually work your way up. Start with pictures in books. If that's no big deal, go to a zoo, pet store, or nature center where the snakes are safely behind glass. Check out how pretty they are. I've always been impressed with their colors and patterns. Do this under professional guidance if you feel that would be best. Oh, and I get startled by snakes too. I think that's instinctual, to protect you from venomous snakes, but your phobia is much more extreme if it's keeping you from going in your garden, where, as people have said, you've got almost NO chance of actually being hurt by a snake. Anyway, good luck. Another park ranger I met had two pet snakes that she carried around under her jacket during cold weather while she took them to do educational programs. She admitted to me that she once had a snake phobia! Obviously she got over it, though she admitted it took her years to get to that point, and she was still a little freaked out by any snakes that weren't her own, but that's nothing compared to how she was before. That's a bit extreme, I know, but it shows it can be done if you really put your mind to it.

Oh my goodness, what WONDERFUL photos everyone! mikeyannie - That face, THAT FACE! It looks like it is smirking at you! MARCIA-I didn't know you lived in Estero!!! I lived there for 14 years-where and when? Your flying snake story reminds so much of when Dennis first came to live with me in Estero (Fountain Lakes). We were in a 2 bedroom condo apartment. I had a hose run across the front sidewalk just outside the door soaking a small apt. size bed. Dennis (WHO HATES SNAKES) can take on lions, tigers and bears AND snipers without a twitch, but he hates snakes. Well, Den stepped out front to start the grill in stocking feet and thought he was stepping on the hose. This HUGE racer used to sun itself on our front sidewalk in the evening. You guessed it-he didn't step on the hose. Dennis leapt in one direction and me, sitting on the patio literally saw the snake FLY through the air in the other direction. I don't know who was more startled. I just sipped my wine, giggled, and asked when the steaks would be done! I had my own racer surprise the other day, too. I do not mind snakes at all. They fascinate me, except when at bedtime Tootie is mewing about the red ring neck baby black snake that got in under the patio door and she has cornered just to show me. Anyway, the other day I went to turn on the soaker hose. We have a split valve at the hose bib and a black dual hose that can control the front or back raised beds soaking. As I turned on the water with one hand I reached for the black hose to be sure I was getting the front bed. Only thing is, the hose started wraping around my arm and I had ahold of a nice size racer. He looked at me kinda like mikeyannie's snake as if to say, hey lady, you expect me to water all that???

SouthCountryGuy - I see your point and I don't disagree with you about terminology. You probably have seen a lot more snakes than I have since I live in New York City. I don't know why you think i'm out to kill snakes. They are not even part of my world. I'm just looking at it in the narrow focus of this thread and the person who posted this thread in the first place is a lay person asking about a snake. We are talking about snakes here as per the headline topic "Snake ID". Not Dart Frogs or Coyotes. Stay on topic. "Can please explain again how you cannot always tell the difference between a venomous (nice to see you changed from the improper poisonous) and non-venomous snake." Sure I thought I covered that but here again. There are those that are poisonous, and nonvenomous copycats, such as the scarlet king snake.. It's not easy to tell the difference for the lay person. Like if my grandmother took the dog out for a walk into the woods and the dog found a snake? Of course a zoologist would know the difference, but I'm talking about the lay person. Like if me and my college buddies went camping to the Adirondacks and a random snake crossed our path unexpectedly - a common scenario over here. They will even slither into your sleeping bag during the night. Who knows if it's poisonous or a copycat? A poisonous snake has venom, a non-poisonous snake does not. A big difference. That's the first question the doctor will ask you when you go to the hospital for a snake bite. It was very pompous and arrogant of you to mock my references. Are you the know-it-all? The reason I cited "Animal Planet" and "National Geographic" is for you to check it out for yourself. Just go to the freakin website and do some research. You just might learn something from the experts. I'm done here.

Many years ago I lived in a tiny house with a tiny yard that had a ridiculous number of slugs. I'm not sure if the the slugs were coming from the surrounding woods, under the house foundation, or where, but one dared not walk outside barefoot in the evenings for fear of having a slug sliding up between the toes. (shudder!) Since it was a small yard with mostly rough field grass and only a few garden areas, we tried setting traps (the beer type,) but the found the traps were overwhelmed by the sheer number of slugs. We ended up getting some 6" spikes and going out on damp evenings and skewering slugs and then scraping them off into cans of soapy water which we would then be sure were full of water and fasten lids onto to drown the slugs. We also put out boards and during the day we would flip the boards and squish the slugs which had taken shelter from the day's heat. I'm not sure how much of a dent all this made in the slug population, but it sure made me feel better. Since you have kitties, Escar-Go! Slug & Snail Control is a slug bait made by Gardens Alive which is pet-safe. Don't know if that is the case with Sluggo since I do know that some slug baits aren't safe around small kids and animals. There are probably other pet-safe slug baits - this is the only one I know about. I have heard that crushed eggshells around particularly vulnerable plants is supposed to help keep out softbodied critters, but in my experience the birds remove the eggshells faster than I can eat eggs so I don't know if it actually works. Here is a link that might be useful: Escar-Go! Slug & Snail Control