• Q: I have a strange plant growing in my yard and I'd like to find out whether it's poisonous. How can I do that?

• A: By sending a sample or clear photos to your county's extension office. The same applies for identifying insects, spiders, millipedes and the like.

One of the many free services provided by extension agents -- who may be horticulturists, biologists, entomologists and/or master gardeners -- is the identification of plants, plant pests and diseases, bugs and other wildlife.

To identify a shrub or tree, the extension agent may need to see a stem or a branch at least 12 inches long. If flowers or fruit/seeds are available, enclose samples. Botanists confirm the identity of plants from the flowers and fruit or seeds. Alternatively, send clear pictures instead. Digital photos can be sent via e-mail.

Include a description of the plant, its flowers and fruit/seeds. Is it a tree, a bush or a small plant? When does it flower?

If you elect to send a sample, don't put it in a plastic bag because it could rotbefore it arrives. Wrap it in paper and send it in a box.

If it's a bug you need identified, put it in a loose crush-proof container, such as a medicine bottle or a film canister with the lid taped on.

Here's the contact information:

• Miami-Dade: UF/IFAS Miami-Dade Extension, 18710 SW 288 St., Homestead, FL 33030. Phone: 305-248-3311. Website: http://miami-dade.ifas.ufl.edu. Digital photos should be e-mailed to dade@mail.ifas.ufl.edu.

• Broward: Broward County Extension Education Division, 3245 College Ave., Davie, FL 33314. Phone: 954-370-3725. Website: www.broward.org/extension. E-mail: mastergardener@broward.org.

• Monroe: Monroe County Extension Services, 1100 Simonton Street, #2-260, Key West, FL 33040. Phone: 305-292-4501. Website: http://monroe.ifas.ufl.edu. E-mail: monroe@ifas.ufl.edu.

• Other Florida counties: Visit www.solutionsforyourlife.ufl.edu and click on Local Offices.

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• Q: What was the thin black snake that raced across my back yard? Is it poisonous?

• A: You pretty much answered your own question: it was a black racer, Coluber constrictor. It's not poisonous but it doesn't hesitate to use its needle sharp teeth to defend itself. These skinny snakes can grow to more than five feet in length. They are fairly common in suburban environments where they are seen using their speed on land and in water to evade harm.

There are 46 species of snake native to Florida but only these six are poisonous:

• The southern copperhead;

• The cottonmouth, also known as a water moccasin;

• The eastern diamondback rattlesnake;

• The timber rattlesnake;

• The dusky pygmy rattlesnake, and

• The eastern coral snake The cottonmouth, the diamondback and pygmy rattlesnakes and the coral snake can be found in South Florida; all, however, prefer to stay out of your way.

Thousands of harmless snakes are killed every year by people who wrongly assume they are poisonous. Water snakes are particularly vulnerable because they are mistaken for cottonmouths.

Aside from black racers, other snakes commonly found in suburban backyards are harmless ringneck snakes, slender black snakes that may reach 10-inches and are identified by a light colored (often orange) ring around the neck and a light colored belly. They eat garden pests. Another is the tiny Brahminy blind snake or flowerpot snake, which gets to about 5-inches and gets confused with earthworms. This one is a harmless exotic species that probably arrived with plants imported from Southeast Asia. It really is blind and it's hard to tell one end of its shiny black or dark grey body from other. Curiously, the species consists only of females that reproduce asexually by a process known as parthenogenesis.