Them ain't snakes, they're diabled lizards
I was raised in the NE corner of Arkansas, 2 miles from the Mississippi River, hence....lots of Mr. No Shoulders was present. I was taught from a very early age, snakes are more scared of you than you are of them, most times. Anyway, I caught many cottonmouths and watersnakes in and out of the house over the years without getting bit. Me and my grandmother went fishing in one of the sleughs, when a cottonmouth dropped into the boat between us. To my superise, Mom just reached out, grabbed the snake and flipped him out of the boat in a flash, then went back to fishing. I said "I thought you were scared of snakes?" She replied, "Only if your daddy or grandpa ain't around. If they knew the truth, I'd be handling all the snake problems around the farm for them so they could deal with the more important stuff." I also heard my grandpa say that dried snake skins make for good toilet paper in a pinch....never tried that myself.