Snake Update

I sent the photo of the snake from the kitchen to a herpetologist at the University of Texas @ Austin. He told me my snake was a hog nosed dust snake. He said it was a juvenile due to it's size (approx 14")

He states "This appears to be a dust hog-nosed snake and a male of the species (the tail tapers gently from the vent, while in the female the tail tapers abruptly from the vent). 'the dusty hog-nosed snake is rather common in your area.

It is definitely not a venomous serpent, and is nothing to be concerned about.
It likely entered your bathroom via the commode, coming up from the sewer.

Snakes sometimes enter homes via this route. In fact, for snakes found in homes,
entry via the sewer through the commode is probably the most common route of egress.

On the other hand, snakes are rarely found inside homes and the likelihood
you will ever find a snake inside your home ever again is very small."

For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hog_nosed_snakes

Now I'm not only afraid of finding another snake in the house, but now I'm afraid to use the bathroom. My bladder is suffering, because I wait until the last possible moment, then check the bathroom several times before I use it....to make sure I won't get any surprises! 

** On a side note ** The Wikipedia article states these snakes like to burrow in the ground. That might explain some of the holes we've been noticing in the mulch in the backyard and the mulch in my flower bed out front. 

I hope to have no more snake stories to share in the future! Can I get an AMEN on that?