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by RajT88 233 days ago
Sneks eat a lot of rodents and various garden wreckers. Unless you live somewhere where they are poisonous and bitey, they are fine. Non-poisonous snakes far outnumber the poisonous ones.
2 comments

Venomous snakes far outnumber the poisonous ones.
I see I am dealing with a senior level pedant. Well done, sir!
I live in an area where we have these[1], and they're generally not something you see all that often. Their biggest danger isn't their venom (they're less venomous than the diamondback) so much as their curiosity, which can get them into locations they otherwise don't belong. They aren't overly aggressive snakes, and I've encountered them several times over the years.

Alon with bullsnakes, they're extremely useful for getting rid of said rodents—which CAN carry awful pathogens, like hanta virus!

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-tailed_rattlesnake

I lived in NC for 6 months once. My boss at the time told me I'd need to watch out for copperheads in September when they come out. Indeed, I did have to shoo one off a bike path when September came.
It's August for us here in the SW US, but there's been construction in the area that has displaced a number of them at odd times of the year.

Fortunately, snakes will generally leave you alone unless they're provoked or cornered. Unfortunately, if you have curios animals (cats, dogs) it can be a much more significant problem!