TRD - the only venomous snake that might possibly be in your area is a copperhead. Do you have any idea how many people have told me they see copperheads, and when I ask how they know it's a copperhead, they say it's because it's brown and has a pattern on it's back? I knew a guy who killed "copperheads" all the time around me. I told him to bring me one next time he found one. He brought me a corn snake. Corn snakes, young black rat snakes and water snakes are all brownish with patterned backs. I would bet you've killed a lot od harmless snakes.

Don't argue with an idiot; people watching may not be able to tell the difference