The first thing I thought about when I was reading this was that I want to start calling my Canis lupus familiaris a wolf now. It would do wonders for her ego

Even subspecies can get federal protections as endangered (I'm pretty sure), if that's what the original question was about?

Around where I live, all garters are just 'garter snakes', and black ratsnakes and black racers are both 'black snakes'. You have to listen to a ten minute story about what someone caught the snake eating and how big it was (size is immediately doubled if someone is scared of snakes) to figure out what they're is talking about.
Oh, and depending on someone's personality, anything brown and near the water is either 'water snake' or 'water moccasin'. In an area that has an almost nonexistant cottonmouth population, it seems like literally everyone you talk to has seen one.