Well, now, us folks of backwoods origin can tell ya, there's good snakes and there's bad snakes. Plain evil snakes, truth to tell: rattlers, water moccasins, and the like. Good snakes: bull snakes, because they'll eat rattlers, so even in rattler country if there are bull snakes around a particular spot, there won't be many rattlers there. Bull snakes, though, I am convinced, know that they can look a lot like rattlers, and use this knowledge to force humans to give 'em a wide berth.

Also good are garter snakes, which eat up bugs in your garden, if you're blessed with their presence. They're also so cute, in a creepy sort of way, when they get irate and threaten to strike--yeah, like that's going to do them any good.

Little Hawk, my good man, I know of few who can hijack a thread with such panache....

Shad