Chopped up a garter snake w the mower last week.
Cannot stand those little fuu.ggers. Attitude like a copperhead. Any other non poisonous snake gets a pass but not those garter snakes.
According to Wikipedia, garter snakes are, in fact, venomous. They produce a neurotoxin that is relatively harmless to people, barring an allergic reaction and have posterior teeth (think rear fangs) with which they chew the venom into their victims.
This is relatively new finding. It does explain the reaction a friend had when a big one tagged him on the hand and causing some pretty significant swelling in the hand and arm along with some mild breathing issues for a day or so.
The doctors kept asking him if he was sure it was a garter snake that got him. They saw the fang marks and just couldn't believe the signs of (mild) invenomation they were seeing could've been caused by a garter snake---until a nurse did some research and found that garter snakes are a bit venomous.
Apparently he's abnormally sensitive to their venom.