We've been very lucky that the poisonous snakes have been scarce around our plot. We see rat snakes and grass snakes periodically. Today I was going to fetch some old pots so I could begin to replant the baby trees and I saw this fellow where I was fixing to stick my hand!
I ran in the house to get the guide so I could make sure I was correct in assuming it was a copperhead. Yep, it was. I thought I would try to get it to move away but it wanted to stay where it was. It became very aggressive as I tried to move it. I was happy for my long stick. I really didn't want to kill it. They are great at eating small things including mice. However, the snake didn't want to move away, so I killed it.
It was about 18-20 inches long when I stretched it out. Pretty scary when I think that Peg had been messing around this area this morning and the last time the grand kids were here, this was where they played! So we'll remove the pots, etc. so there's no place for a snake to hide (or anything of interest for a grand kid to play with).