REPTILE HAVEN!!

Living by the river is so much fun... until you have some strange visitors that surprise you by chillin out on your front porch! My kiddos love catching frogs and toads and in the summer they are everywhere! Frogs, toads, and even lizards dont freak me out now that I am used to them but what I DONT like... SNAKES! A month or so ago Addi and Payson were playing in the front yard and came in screaming that a snake went right past them on the front lawn... of course I think they are being dramatic but as I step outside I see this long brownish snake coiled up hissing at me!!! I can't see its tail so Im not sure if its a rattler but I soon realize that it doesnt look like one so I head into my garage to get a shovel! (when I was a little girl we used to camp out every year in the mountains in arizona and my uncles would find rattlers all over the place and chop their heads off with a shovel).
Why was I so brave I dont know but once I saw we had no shovel I went to a neighbors and once I told him why I needed it.. intrigued.. he decided to come along! Thank goodness for my neighbor Mark cause once that thing took off it was soooo fast I about pooped my pants! (not very lady like I know but true none the less) He chased after that sucker hopped the fence into my back yard and caught him! The kids loved petting its tail (it was about 6 feet long) but I was just glad to get it out of my yard. He set it free down at the river and a few days later.. back wandering the neighbohood!!