There's a snake in the kitchen!

I had just turned off the light to go to sleep when my wife yelled that alarm. It's not the first time we have had snaky visitors, so I got up to evict the intruder. Sure enough, there on the floor was the smallest snake I have ever seen, and I have been catching snakes all my life. It was clearly harmless, although I couldn't make a positive identification. I picked it up, took it outside, and released it. At least it didn't bite me like the big water snake did a few years ago when I had to grab it before it disappeared behind some heavy furniture.