I dug up a small garter snake a year or so ago. It ran away. Chicken. I basically leave them alone. Cute story: My daughters and I were coming home one day I guess after church. Years ago. They were maybe 7 and 10. Something like that. Anyway there is a HUGE garter snake with it's head jammed under this one landscape timber after the toad that lived there. Jennie Toad! Well, this was the biggest garter I ever saw! Something like 2 feet long and fat. We stepped around it and went into the house. My kids asked if they could catch the snake. Well, I knew they probably wouldn't get bit and if they did I'd just take them to the doctor and lie like hades about me giving them permission to "catch" the snake. I had a broom handle with a hole in the end so took some speaker wire, the old kind, and made a snake snagging stick. I also taught them to loop it around the snake's neck and tighter it and they'd have the snake. The snake would also not be very happy. So out they go with the cat to go snake hunting. I'm watching from the upper step, about 5' away. They poke, and poke, and poke this poor snake and finally it lets go of the toad and comes out of the hole. And it is totally ticked off at this point. It chases the kids up the steps, along with the cat, who had more brains and ran first! So it's actually chasing these three up the steps, they run right past me into the house, two kids and the cat and the snake is still charging up the steps now right towards me. Well, I didn't run. It must have realized something was wrong. Saw me and it turned around and headed back down the steps and off toward the bushes. At which point first the cat, and then both kids realized they were back in control and tore off after the snake. The snake ran off, unharmed, the cat was disappointed and the kids went back to watching tv. Everyone lived happily ever after. Except Jennie Toad. She didn't make it. I like toads.