things I've learned from having cats

One of the biggest lessons I've learned from having cats is to never just pick up random items off the floor.  I just picked up a "stick" only to discover that it was the tail of a garter snake.  So I'm trying to figure out if garter snakes are able to shed their tails like lizards (and if that means that I have one in the house) or if the cats managed to eat all but four inches of a snake.