Sidewalk snake

This itty-bitty rascal was guarding half the sidewalk on my way through the neighborhood one day after work.  He was coiled up like he wanted to strike at anyone who crossed him.  Except for the color, he didn’t look much like a baby copperhead, which is one of the more hazardous critters one might encounter in the woods here, though we’ve yet to see one (we’ve heard some good stories, however).  They’re pretty rare in the city, as one might expect.  This guy was just some kind of brown garter snake, I figured.  The main point being, he was holding his ground, which I yielded.  Out West, the garters seem to always slither off as quickly as you spot them.  This one wasn’t budging.  A woman walking behind me gave the little fella as much leeway as I did.  Of note, Kris has been the snake lady out here (and out West too).  She always spots them first, including a big rattler on a sidewalk in Arizona that we’re not likely to forget, and more recently, a black racer on a sidewalk in Charlottesville, VA, that must have been a quarter mile long—the snake, that is, not the sidewalk.  Though non-venomous, the fact that the black racer can eat a squirrel whole tends to diminish one’s interest in getting a closer look.  That one slithered up a stone wall and was gone.  If we see one more sneaky snake on a sidewalk we’re going to… well, I'm not sure what.