It wasn't a snake at all. It was a Western slender glass lizard. I had seen two of these dead on my property over the years, one dead from a warm up followed by a cold snap, the other the victim of my brush hog. According to the Missouri Herpetological Society, there had never been one documented in my county. Last year, I sent them a picture of the one that I killed with the brush hog, and had they published the finding in their yearly Atlas update. Still, I had never seen one alive. The day prior, while mowing, I saw a "snake" travelling very fast through the grass, and was able to positively identify it as a glass lizard before it escaped into the brush. This little fellow allowed me to capture it, and hold it for a short time prior to releasing it into the brush. Glass lizards are rare to see, but are commonly found in close association or "colonies" with other glass lizards. They are traditionally a plains animal, so it is really cool to see them on my re-established prairies.