very little visitor (or resident) of the kitchen garden....

Northern Brown Snake

Adult body length: 9 - 13 inches Body length at birth: 2¾ - 5 inches Breeding period: spring and fall; young born June to September Young per year: 3 - 31 Typical foods: earthworms, slugs, snails

Appearance The color of this snake varies from yellowish-brown and reddish-brown to dark brown or gray. There is a weakly defined lighter stripe down the back with a row of dark spots on either side. The under surface is pale yellow, brownish, or pinkish with small black dots along the edges. The young are darker than the adults and the spotted pattern is almost invisible. Also, the young have a yellow collar across the back of the neck. The closely related Midland Brown Snake is very similar in appearance, but it has dark lines crossing the back and connecting the dark spots on either side. Also, specialists find differences in the number of scales along the under surfaces of these two snakes. In Ohio, the Northern Brown Snake interbreeds with the Midland Brown Snake producing an intergrade that often has the combined characteristics of both parents.

Range Overall RangeThe Northern Brown Snake ranges from southern Quebec and New England southward to North Carolina, and westward to Ohio and eastern Kentucky. Its distribution overlaps that of the Midland Brown Snake along most of the joint length of their ranges.

We thought it might be a baby because it is so small, 

but it was about 9 or 10 inches long,

a full size adult.