I'm not a snake guy

Here is a picture of the snake I killed Saturday. I don't know my snakes all that well but I think it is (was) a rat snake. Since I felt kinda bad after chopping it in three pieces, I would love for one of you to comment back and say something to the effect of, "Oh no, that was a deadly southern viper! Thanks GOD you killed it because it could have killed hundreds, maybe thousands of people!!!!"

By the way, I think you can click on the picture above to enlarge it and get a better look. You know, to identify its viper markings and all.