We were sitting out back reading this afternoon, when Penny went over to the side yard where she tends to "do her business" and we noticed she got VERY still.
I guess it's the first time she saw a ~ 4-foot California Kingsnake. She didn't attack it, but she was watching with a LOT of interest. Good girl.
Stevil 
Oh my! That is one big snake. We had a baby rat snake sunning itself on the deck railing the other day. I can handle that. I don't think I'd ever go outside again if I saw one of those in my backyard.
Umm..I'd have to move. Unless someone caught it (not me!) and re-homed it..yeah, I'd have to move far, far away. I saw a black snake at the zoo that wasn't in a cage (I asked Nathan if he heard it moving..he said all he heard was my screams) and every time we go back, I'm on the lookout. They eat your face, you know.
I wouldn't be able to take a picture of that in between all the screaming, "Dan, there's a snake! It's gonna kill the dog!!! OHMYGOD OHMYGOD EEEKKK!"
Beautiful animals, aren't they? And quite beneficial as I'm sure you know. They don't bother us, and do eat rattlesnakes.
Good puppy, glad she lived to bark another day!
yikes!!!!!!
If I saw this hanging out within 50 feet of me I'd be 8 feet up in the air and scrambling as fast as possible in the opposite direction. Snakes give me the willies. I like them just fine if they stay FAR away from me.
Snakes don't bother me as long as they are just passing through. Nice looking snake.
Yikes! Good dog.
Are these any threat to us? Could you pick it up?
Fortunately, there was no face-eating — and it was "re-homed" — it slithered through a hole in our fence into our neighbors' yard….
Mark — I didn't know anything about Kingsnakes until after the encounter we came in to figure out what sort of snake it was. We didn't know that they can eat rattlesnakes, which is good, because several have been seen in our neighborhood.
GrandmaP — that's sort of how I feel. Penny surprised it while the snake was sunning itself and I think it was most interested in getting away from me.
CL — From what I can tell, they don't really pose any threats to humans — though they can bite. They're actually fairly common as pets, apparently. As a bonus, they can eat rattlesnakes (they are immune to their venom), which is a good thing.
that is awesome.
Nice – what a cool creature.
It's facinating that Penny knew not to go after it – I'm not exactly surprised by her instinct but considering how we've over-domesticated dogs and cats it still blows my mind.
I'm glad it wasn't a poisonous snake. I hope that snake eats a lot of rattlesnakes in your area, and I'm glad Penny was so cautious.