what snake and spider is this?

[usenet4life]

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

[J.C.]

They're not. That is if they are what I think they are. The snake looks like a common garter snake and the spider looks like what we call a banana spider. Both harmless.

[John McGaw]

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.

[Bill R]

The snake is a common Garter snake (non-poisonous). I have dozens of them around my property and I have posted many pictures of them on my web site: