OMG, I killed a snake

I killed a snake.

See picture above. You can't even tell it's chopped in half.
I went outside to check on the garden after I got home from work yesterday afternoon, and I let the cats out to play while I did. One was terribly interested in a particular bush, he kept smelling it and dancing all around it, and I ignored it for the first few minutes. But he kept smelling and prancing, this from a cat who normally bounds all over the yard, and finally I went over there to see what all the fuss was about.

About that time a snake slithered out of the bush.

It wasn't big, or poisonous. A little black-and-yellow garter snake of some variety, I imagine. It would have been hard-pressed to swallow anything bigger than a cough drop. Nevertheless, I certainly didn't want it getting inside the house. And, you know, it was a SNAKE. So I scooped up the cats, deposited them inside, and came back with the hoe. And chopped the snake in two.

Then I ran back inside and called my husband to come home and remove the corpse.

I'm about equal parts proud of myself and grossed out. I also feel a little hillbilly for chopping a snake in two with a hoe. (My dad had a good laugh at that one.) Nevertheless, I feel like I've earned my Wildlife Badge.

So, let's recap. So far my backyard has hosted chipmunks, squirrels, groundhogs, rabbits, foxes, mice, a raccoon, a turtle, deer, about 900,000 different kinds of birds, and now a snake. I've even heard owls. We've seen every kind of wildlife present in the eastern half of the US with the possible exception of bobcats and bear. I wonder if my neighbors are seeing this much action or if it's just me.

If I have to kill another snake any time soon, I may hyperventilate.