ok so... I dont know what's going on with all this snake activity here, since it's been so cold! but yesterday I saw the neighbors cat in the back yard kind of thwapping at something in the leaves along the edge of the woods/yard. I didnt really think anything of it because she didnt seem all that interested in what it was because she would walk away and then come back to it. I honestly assumed that it was probably some kind of bug. .... so after about ten minutes or so of watching her surveying the edges of the yard and going back to the same spot several times I decided to go over and investigate.

..... to my HORROR it was a baby garter!! looking dead! ... Needless to say I was SUPER upset with myself for not going over there sooner! If I had any idea that's what she was trying to get and what she was chewing on I would have gone over IMMEDIATELY! .....
I'm a super SAPPY animal lover of ALL species so I've been crying about it mostly out of regret that maybe i could have saved it before it sustained so many injuries if I had known!

.... HOWEVER it is ALIVE! I brought it inside and rinsed him/her off with warm water and it didnt really struggle at all :/ .... I'd have preferred it did in ways because I would know it at least had the strength to do so, but this did make it easy to clean it off .... It has what looks like several puncturish wounds and a rather crooked tail probably from being chewed a bit .... I dont know if it is a male or a female but it is super docile and slow (I dont know if that is because of it's injuries making it difficult to be anything but, or if it's just naturally a very chill snake). I cleaned the areas that I could see were clearly marks where she had been bitten with a mix of iodine and warm water w/ a Q-tip! .... I had just recently taken in two babies to observe for a bit and released them so I had a tote that I had used for them a few days ago, empty and I gently layed him/her inside of it with clean paper towels and a little shallow dish of water. I'm trying to keep it warm with a heating pad underneath one side of it on low because I know if it has a chance at all to survive this ordeal that it will need warmth! I dont know if there were a cache of babies or something recently in the area because later on I found ANOTHER baby closer to the house that was CLEARLY dead, I'm assuming due to the cat's curiosity or possibly another animal outside .... sorry for the rambling but I'm just letting this all pour out onto the keyboard from my fingers as fast as I can manage so that MAYBE i can get some suggestions from you guys before it gets too late I hope i have done the right thing but I couldnt leave it out there once I realized it was still clinging to life. I honestly didnt even know if i should somehow put it out of it's misery in case it was suffering! (lord knows HOW I'd muster the strength to do that! not sure if I could!)
It has actually drank some water about an hour ago when I went to check in on it. It was burrowed under a layer of paper towels at the warm end of the tote and i actually brought it over to the water as gently as I could and it started drinking immediately! I dont know if this is a good sign that it had interest in doing so or if it's bad that maybe it isnt getting to the water ITSELF?? anyway it seems to be getting a TAD more active, flickering the tongue and sniffing around but not really able to move too well as it's last like 3 inches seem kind of limp.....
thank you for reading everyone! any suggestions?? I realllllly hope this little guy makes it! .... I am truly beginning to hate cats!!