Panic in Pueblo

I just took the dogs outside - by myself! - and ran into a HUGE snake sunning itself in the middle of the grass where the dogs do their business. Since Erik loves the slithery creatures, I ran back to the room to get him. When we got back outside, we momentarily thought it was gone since he had moved on to another location. However - we found him just moving into some rocks on the edge of the grass. He (she?) was probably about 3 1/2 feet long, and quite thick. I am still fighting off a panic attack, but Erik is quite pleased as it was the largest snake he has ever come across in the wild. We think it was a gopher snake, non-poisonous, but still intimidating as hell to a ophidiophobe!

Update: As I was writing this post, the snake emerged from the rocks and we spotted him out the window (from the 3rd floor!) ... Erik went down to snap some photos. Since I don't have the USB cables with me, I can't share the actual photos, but I found a good one online. I will follow up with the real thing soon.