I'd like to take a moment to remind everyone that JE and JFIF are scared of snakes.
I'm not scared of them. I picked up and moved a grass snake a couple of months ago because it was in my MIL's flower bed where my SIL was gardening. If I ran into a snake I don't recognise in the city though, I'd assume it was dangerous because until I know otherwise it's the sensible assumption to make. Snakes don't live in cities, which would mean it had been transported there either by accident or as a pet, which means that it could be dangerous. And therefore a shovel to the head is the reasonable approach to take.