OH MY GOD I HATE SNAKES.
I HATE THEM SO MUCH I CAN'T STAND IT.

I once dated a guy who had an apartment full of them. AND I HATED THEM TOO.

Here in Florida, I get to enjoy the SNAKE BITS the lawnmowers toss out onto the sidewalks and driveways after snakes lose a battle with the machines.

I think the snake bits scare me as much as the snakes.

What the hell kind of snake IS that anyway?

that is a harmless black snake. we had one in my sixth grade class in a little glass aquarium. i held him once, which was a very strange experience.

i agree that he's a bit freaky, but he won't hurt you.

Wow! How cool! I used to work at the Museum of Life and Science and as part of my job I took black king snake like this (and lots of other creepy crawlies) to classrooms all over NC. of course that snake was used to being held by people - never pick up wild snakes. (duh!) That snake probably eats a mouse a week. They are totally harmless. They really are more scared of you - I promise. Just let it be and you will be great neighbors!

I am kind of suprised that you have a snake in the yard considering you have cats - but they are inside cats right?

Anyway, I think that black snakes are great luck! You don't get to see snakes too often when you do it's special! BTW, snakes make great pets.

I thought that it was so cute that you were hiding inside while Ray was outside filming. I think that the Museum of Life and Science should do a special reptile program for feminists.

Wow... very cool. And I liked Ray's commentary. I think he should have his own show (maybe "Mutual of Ray's Wild Kingdom"?). I saw a snake at the beach the other week. In the outdoor shower. Well, it was sort of wrapped around the door, and then slithered off. Gorgeous. A couple of feet, with red/brown and black stripes... what's that?

yes, john, our cats are indoor-only. if they every came face-to-face with a snake, they would totally freak the fuck out and hide underneath the bed.

oh, and i'm very intrigued by "reptiles for feminists"! :-)

and ventril-
ray and i used to watch a lot of 'wild kingdom'-type shows... mostly hosted by people with australian accents. after months of careful study, he has perfected the delivery... i think maybe his next film should be on the subject of the wild bunnies in our back yard, delivered in the style of the crocodile hunter. crikey!

bwventril, that could be a coral snake, the most poisonous species native to the U.S. very similar is the nonpoisonous king/scarlet snake, but it's nose is never black and the coral's always is. but you didn't mention yellow stripes, which both species also have, so maybe your sighting was of some completely other species. See
http://tinyurl.com/7olxg
aka
http://www.mun.ca/biology/scarr/Coral_snake_mimics
.gif

Ray - Your poisonous snake is a bit too lurid to be the one I saw. Thankfully I think it was a corn snake (though I haven't checked yet if these live on the Outer Banks). Once of these:

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/gaston/Pests/reptiles/pages/corn2.htm

that movie, ray's delivery, and christa's face in the window are all conspiring to crack me up this morning. thank you.

http://www.wral.com/theweirdchronicles/4586193/detail.html