Can I assume this is a bull snake and not a rattler? You said rattle, so I assumed rattler. Then I decided the head didn't look right and I remembered something about bull snakes mimicking a rattle. Again with the mediocre snake ID skills though.
Garter snakes are not very dangerous. My particular area of the US has few venomous snakes. We have a couple species of rattle snake, but they aren't common. I give no thought to hiking across a pile of tall grass or brush no matter what time of year it is. In other parts of the US, that would be a stupid move. The southern and western part of the US are most known for having a variety of venomous snakes.
We have always assumed we had bull snakes. Our DNR page posted some pics about Bullsnakes and I posted this and they told me it is a western fox snake. I actually have a video of it rattling. I post that later
Your lucky you have no rattlers by you. When I was 14 I used to ride my Honda 70 down to farm to bail hay. One day while loading the conveyer up to barn, i grabbed a bail to throw in conveyer, and got whack on hand between thumb and forefinger.
Whoa!! I mean...whoa!! That's a monster. Surely wouldn't want to get bit by that. The Michigan Massasauga rattler may be small, but it's among those rattlers with the most potent venom. Thing is when it bites it releases very little venom. Still hurts like the dickens when bitten. Like being stung by hundreds of bees in the same spot.
Usually a quick way to ID a poisonous snake vs. A non-poisonous one is the eyes. Poisonous ones usually have diamond shape cat eye pupils, where a non poisonous one the pupils are round.
Yea I know, it was an old saying my grandfather taught me when I was little back in the early 60's. It's somewhat true to a degree. But there are a few that are poisonous that have round eyes.
