New Garden Creatures

I've found two of these snail shells in my garden so far this season. I've never seen them here before. So far, both of them were dead, and all of my seedlings seem fine. I hope they don't end up being a problem because snails are so cute and the shells are really pretty.

Then over the course of this past Sat. & Sun., I saw about 4 - 5 snakes. Actually, I thought the first 3 or 4 sightings may have been the same snake, pictured above, slithering around trying to find the hole in the fence that it used to get into the yard. But the last snake I saw seemed smaller and more of a brown/beige color, so there may have been more than one. I didn't get a picture of that one.

I tried to identify the snake using this pdf about NJ snakes and Google Images. It definitely isn't poisonous - there are only two dangerous types in NJ - the Northern Copperhead and Timber Rattlesnake. Neither of those are supposed to inhabit my area. I think this particular snake had to be either an Eastern Ribbon or Eastern Garter. They look pretty similar in the pictures and are both supposed to be common, so I can't tell which it is. I don't recall ever seeing this many snakes in my yard before. I can only remember seeing one much smaller one trapped in my basement last year. Good thing I'm not scared of them! I think they are really beautiful, as long as they're not venomous.