I too grew up calling them chicken snakes, I suppose because they were often found in the coop with a couple of eggs plainly bulging from inside them.
Back when I had a pair of geese, I noticed one day both were at the far end of their run making all kinds of racket but wouldn't go near their clutch of eggs. Looked inside and there were 2 big black snakes happily swallowing 1/2 incubated goose eggs.
Not venomous but will make you hurt yourself if they surprise you.
Several years ago, I shut the back door after stepping out onto the small back porch landing late one night (it was 5'X5' surrounded by a guard rail on the 2 sides and up 7 steps). Barefooted. I didn't bother turning on the porch light because I wanted to see if a meteor shower had started. When I laid my hand down on the rail, something moved under my hand.
Jerked my hand back, and I felt something heavy and alive fall down onto the top of my foot. I was flat out dancin then!!
There's a little ledge (exterior threshold) at the bottom of the door, and I was perched up on it as I tried to get the door handle turned while standing with my back to the door. Got the door open just in time to see one of those squirmy black snakes slither off the side of the deck.
(I had been bit on the foot by a copperhead back in 2012 so had my fill of venomous and all other serpents)
After I got the damn door open and the light on, I realized he was probably trying to get up the 4x4 posts to the underside of the porch ceiling where there were 2 active mud swallow nests.
Scared the crap out of me tho.
