Just wanted to add. Take your kids to a snake show - somewhere they can be educated about snakes and taught of their beauty and their rightful place in our world. Yes be wary but really we are more dangerous to snakes than snakes are to us. I personally don't teach that they are dangerous. I teach caution. Don't touch. but I add because you are so much bigger you look scary to the snake & it might attempt to protect it'self as this is it's instinct...

We have a yearly snake demonstraion at school and first aid and identification of snakes & of course how to react is reinforxced to the children...