Mainerita, hard to tell from the pic but that looks like either an immature black snake or a milk snake, both good snakes.

Superhunt, they now recommend against using a snakebite kit. There were so many incidents where people have cut too deep and did a bunch of damage to themselves or others cutting the bite area. The rest of your post is inline with what they now recommend. I have a brand new, meaning unused snake bite kit I keep because I haven't seen a new one for sale in years. I always had one in my backpack when I was a scout. They now recommend the below and to get to medical treatment asap. Telling someone who was bitten by a poisonous snake is going to be a pretty hard thin to do. Just one source of info regarding treatment of snake bites.

By Mayo Clinic Staff
Most North American snakes aren't dangerous to humans. Some exceptions include the rattlesnake, coral snake, water moccasin and copperhead. Their bites can be life-threatening.

If you are bitten by a venomous snake, call 911 or your local emergency number immediately, especially if the area changes color, begins to swell or is painful. Many hospitals stock antivenom drugs, which may help you.

If possible, take these steps while waiting for medical help:

Remain calm and move beyond the snake's striking distance.
Remove jewelry and tight clothing before you start to swell.
Position yourself, if possible, so that the bite is at or below the level of your heart.
Clean the wound, but don't flush it with water. Cover it with a clean, dry dressing.
Caution

Don't use a tourniquet or apply ice.
Don't cut the wound or attempt to remove the venom.
Don't drink caffeine or alcohol, which could speed the rate at which your body absorbs venom.
Don't try to capture the snake. Try to remember its color and shape so that you can describe it, which will help in your treatment.

Resend of the Pic, heading out to the stand... (always heard if the head is wider than the body it is not a good snake, but this is from an area with non-poisonous snakes)




When I select the pic it gets larger...

Man they change that stuff more often than they change their drawers. I can see the point of not cutting as most people would be in a bit of a panic but no tourny? Sheesh. I still have a couple kits myself and never go anywhere in the woods without one. I do believe I'll stick to what I know works. I'm too dern old to be taking hit's from a snake and not pretreating. Granted I'm still a pretty big guy and it would take a while still but at my age I would be much better off getting at least SOME of the venom out before it had a chance to get into my bloodstream. I'd pretty much have to imagine that most of the folks they had cutting too deep and not operating the tourny properly were more than likely city folk that had absolutely no clue about proper field medics like most of us outdoors people learned from our parents/mentors. That was actually some of the first things my great gramps and dad taught me was in the field medics for injury or bites.

Pretty sure that's a juvenile Yellow Rat Snake. Non Poisonous. Leave them alone. They help keep the mice and other small rodent population down. If memory serves, they will also hit poisonous snake egg hatcheries keeping those down as well.

Maine, there is a lot if misinformation out there about IDing snakes what you were told is one of them. the north has two poisonous snakes, copperheads and rattlers. The south has both of them plus cottonmouths and coral snakes. There are several different kinds of rattlers in the US. What you should do is to either go to a place where you can look see the various species of snakes and some non poisonous ones. Once you actually see a poisonous snake you will not forget what they look like or confuse them with good snakes. More milk snakes, immature black snakes and common water snakes get killed in mistake for copperheads than you can shake a stick at. Water snakes are more aggressive than any copperhead I have ever seen. I once found myself in the middle of a whole bunch of copperheads that had just come out of a den, my cousin and I walked right into the middle of them till we saw one. As we looked around us we were surrounded. We just slowly and carefully walked out of them. Of course we were crapping bricks. The only thing about snakes I worry about is surprising one stepping over a log or rock. Then we have the nut cases who have their homes full of deadly snakes from other countries that I am not familiar with and occasionally get away.

lol I see a hammer

Red rat snake. Very common down here.

You I.D. That one correctly, it is a hammer. Unfortunately in the gloved hand of an uneducated.

that use the internet, retire from hunting, when they find out they have to share the woods with poisonous snakes.