What kind of snake is this??

My cousin has a swimming pool but also has some woods surrounding his house.. We were outside and found this little guy. We were curious as to what kind of snake it is. He was rattling his tail like a rattlesnake but there was absolutely nothing there. From what I've read, baby rattlesnakes have a "button". I know absolutely nothing about snakes although I should because I have a boy who is not afraid of the woods at all or snakes!!

He looks to be a harmles baby black rat snake or baby black racer. Cute lil guy.

Yep, looks like a baby black rat snake to me as well. Rat snakes will sometimes 'rattle' their tails when frightened or agitated; if there are dead leaves near it can sound like a rattler.

This is a toughish one since the species in your particular region of Georgia aren't easily delimitable and are probably hybridizing to some degree, but generally, west of the Appalachians and the Apalachicola River, you have the central / grey / black ratsnake, Pantherophis spiloides. They come in many colors and patterns, many identical to those east of the Appalachians. East of the mountains and river and in the FL peninsula you get lots of additional color patterns for the species Pantherophis alleghaniensis (eastern ratsnake), and west of the Mississippi River, the western/texas ratsnake Pantherophis obsoletus picks up.