wrote:
These buggers are living in my backyard, I hope they are not venemous.

http://img478.imageshack.us/img478/5342/dsc00754uh8.jpg

http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/7531/dsc00765zu9.jpg


The snake looks like a lined snake, a close kin of the common garter
snake of which there seems to be a dozen or more different varieties.
Nothing to worry about and a great catcher of small critters. Your
location would help in determining the exact species.

The spider at first appeared to be a common garden spider but on further
study it looked more like a black-and-yellow argiope from the shape of
the body and the markings. Perfectly fine spider which feeds mostly on
flying insects and is found over most of NA.

I've never heard of a non-venomous spider -- they aren't vegetarians and
they need some sort of venom to subdue and partially digest their prey.
But if you aren't actually catching the spider in your hand and then
irritating it I wouldn't worry about its bite. When I go hiking in the
mountains early in the morning I find myself walking through webs strung
across the trail and frequently discover later that I've picked up a
number of assorted spiders great and small and not once have I been
bitten. There are only a couple of spider species in NA that are
considered harmful to humans and the most common, the black widow, is
pretty much impossible to mistake for anything else.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com