There is a creek running through my neighborhood, and it's fairly well wooded. This means that during the warmer months (which, in Georgia, means most of the year), snakes are a common sight. Strangely, I've only seen neonates and adolescents, with one exception, and most of them have been harmless. I was out walking with my dog through the woods, exploring a dry creek bed, when an adult and very angry cottonmouth came sliding down the bank towards us, reared up, mouth open, hissing, and striking at the air. My dog, who was ranging a few feet ahead of me, was completely oblivious, and she was also not on a leash (last time I ever did this). I was screaming at her to run to me. She came to me, all right, but at a leisurely trot, and passed not six inches in front of the snake, which, miraculously, actually pulled back a bit and let my dog go by uninjured. We hauled ass out of there. Close call!
Another time I was running on the trail by the creek, and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a small rattlesnake just waiting on the path in front of me. I gave it a few seconds, and when I decided that it wasn't going to do anything, I sprinted around and leaped over it. And this other time, also when I was out running on the trail, I failed to spot a grass snake until I was almost on top of him. I managed not to step on him, but he wasn't happy either way, and made this fact known by popping up at me. Even though I knew it wasn't a venomous snake, that's still enough to get the blood pumping!
