I keep a few. My education is in biology and I'm a volunteer observer for the Colorado Division of Wildlife. I see some snakes on bike rides and I see about the same number when I'm herping -.- but when I do find them I catch them, mark the location with my GPS, record the weather, and take a few pictures of the area. Then I take them home, ID them (if I didn't immediately know), weigh them, sex them, and report everything to the CDOW. CDOW keeps a database on the web of all observations, so I can see who is finding what and where. I don't go hunting for certain herps, I just look at the local parks and such close to home for whatever I can find. If I happen to be going somewhere (like a camping trip), the database helps me to know what is locally common and what is not - I usually look for herps that haven't been reported but should be in the area. Lots of people report amphibians but not many mess with snakes.

Usually I keep them for a night for observation and release them back where I caught them (using the GPS) the next day. A couple weeks ago I found a really pretty adult male gopher snake. None had been previously reported in the area, so I put him back. I don't know what the local population is like but I don't want to mess it up if it's just a few individuals. There are lots of groundhogs in the area so they should be thriving, but I just don't know.

This past weekend was cool and wet so I didn't have much hope of finding anything, but I found a female wandering garter under a log that I had already checked (with no success) a few times the previous week. Wanderings are very common in the area and this one doesn't seem to be very flighty or bitey, so I'm going to keep her. She slammed a f/t mouse a few hours after I brought her home and I think she might be gravid; if that's the case, I'll probably keep a few and then release her and the remaining youngin's.

If people are going to keep any WC snakes, just remember to quarantine them for 3-6 months. I quarantine essentially forever; my CB snakes never go near anything involved with the WC snakes. (I'll use old CB equipment on the WC snakes, but never the reverse.) I'd suggest treating for mites and worms if you really intend to keep it regardless of whether they have symptoms. I'm not going to treat this wandering chemically because she's probably gravid, but I still have to use a separate set of everything and wash my hands profusely so I don't transfer anything to my healthy CB snakes. I try to avoid even dealing with both sets in the same day.