re: Identify this snake.

Either a gray rat or Western rat depending on your location. Western rats tend to get that orangey-brown color as adults like the bottom photo, whereas the juvies are usually colored like your top photo. Gray rats tend to retain closer to that juvie color. Generally gray rats are east of the river and Westerns are west of it, but there are areas you get both. The simplest way I’ve heard of to differentiate if it’s a toss-up is that gray rats have black tongues and Westerns have pink/red.