Thanks for your input. Also I don't know if I can take credit for contributing to preserving any ecosystem. My belief is that whatever lives out there better be able to thrive on it's own because I'm sure not going to do anything to help it along

A friend of mine steered me towards our states Department of Wildlife and I had a nice long chat with a bioligist. I learned more about snakes than I cared to know Bottom line he basically said the same thing as you. Anytime there's a healthy ecosystem your going to attract preditors and short of turning my pond into a sewage dump (which isn't going to happen) there's not a whole lot I can do about it. He also suspects that my neighbor is an alarmist and exaggerating. I went out and have looked around my pond several times in the past week and guess what? haven't seen a single snake. Occassionally will find a snake under a log or in my flower bed and guess what it slithers away as fast I run screaming in the other direction So bottome line I'll go out and cut down the cattails to make the neighbor happy and if she gives me anymore grief i'll tell her to call the Wildlife Department.
At any rate i learned somethign new

thanks for the help
Kim