You’re stepping onto the patio with a cup of coffee when – freeze – there’s a snake in the grass. Your heart spikes. Your ...

Crisscrossing the 1,575 square miles which is Sonoma County are over 2,300 miles of roads. Like many, I live off one of the many battered rural roads with potholes and chunks of missing aggregate.

The “giant” part of its name is pretty apt – adult giant garter snakes can reach a whopping 1.62 meters (5.3 feet). Sure, ...