Westerners see snakes as evil, and that seems to color thinking about the reptiles.
U.S. service members are based around the world and spend a lot of time in the bush. It's almost inevitable they will confront poisonous snakes. But snakes, especially poisonous snakes in the United States, are generally shy and are generally as scared of you as you are of them. Most of the time, snakes will move to avoid you. In 1989, the most recent year for snakebite statistics worldwide, there were 300,000 reported snakebites.