Readers share their snake photos and stories

It's snake season in Georgia, which means it's time to keep your eyes peeled and your wits about you as you work on your garden, go for a walk or take a weekend outdoor adventure.

We asked readers to share their snake encounters with us, and we got stories and photos of both the funny and creepy variety. To submit your own snake story or photo, e-mail socialmedia@ajc.com.

From Mark Stone:

"Here is a photo of a large (4-5 ft) Black Rat Snake that I encountered at Nickajack Park in Mableton a couple of weeks ago. It was on the side of the trail sunning itself and I was able to really observe its defensive posture (coiled with tail vibrations) when I moved a little too close to it. A really beautiful snake, they are extremely beneficial due to the fact that they eat rats, mice and other pest animals and are pretty common in Georgia.

"Here is a photo of a Northern Watersnake that I took at Sweetwater Creek State Park last week. These non-venomous snakes are often confused with the venomous cottonmouth (water moccasin) but the cottonmouths have bands instead of blotches.Also the cottomouth keeps its head elevated while swimming and the watersnake keeps its head and body low and below the surface."

From Sarah Mourad of Roswell:

"I don't have a story really, just found this perfectly intact snake skin while watering my flowerbed yesterday.  You can see holes for his eyes and mouth."

From Linda S. Kirkland:

"I was watering a terra-cotta flowerpot while I chatted on my phone the other morning. Ended call and glanced down, to see the blacksnake sunning itself to the left. I’m not ophidiophobic, but it startled me nonetheless. Scale is a little hard to show but it’s at least 30” long, probably more like 36”. I put a pic on Facebook and have already had two friends say they won’t be visiting any time soon…"

From Grant McFerrin:

"I didn't get a photo, but did have an encounter with a rather large black racer at a half marathon I ran at Harbins Park this weekend. He was sitting on the trail just past the last water station - the volunteers were tell us all as we ran past to "watch the snake" - when we got to the turn we saw another volunteer with a long branch trying to guide the snake off the path in the other direction and out of our way."

And from AJC entertainment blogger Jennifer Brett: