Most of the venomous snakes bite pretty readily.

Primarily snakes eat live prey, occasionally carrion – and they get used to it, if they are in captivity.

Luckily there were no venomous snakes around Hoosick, N.Y., so I amassed quite a collection of milk snakes, garters, ribbons and ring-necked snakes.

The 5-on-3 can bite you in the (rear), and it did tonight.

Primarily snakes eat live prey, occasionally carrion – and they get used to it, if they are in captivity.

Some snakes, as a defensive mechanism, will approach you as a bluff, but if you move away they'll lose interest – they won't chase you for any substantial distance.