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Personally I don't worry too much about snakes, now snapping turtles is another matter, they tend to amputate appendages............
Snakes are cowards... Just make some noise while walking and they'll go away before you even notice they were in your way.
You really need to surprise a snake (or most animals, for that matter) in a tight corner and make it feel threatened for it to try attacking you- not before trying to alert you by hissing etc- it's always their final resort, as snakes are quite aware of the chances their fangs could be broken by biting a large animal, or the risk of being trodden upon by something heavy. Like most animals, snakes ain't stupid and are more concerned in their own survival rather than biting you just for the fun of it.
So snakes- just like sharks or any other animal- when they face a human they are usually the ones that get scared and run away. As a matter of fact, if you are concerned about meeting dangerous animals on your way to your solo dive, then you should really be aware of- and try to avoid as much as possible- meeting other humans, as they by far more dangerous than all other animals...
The mentioned above may not necessarily apply if you happen by chance to meet a very hungry >5m Python snake, rabid dogs or vicious man eating crocodiles
. Not, really. I've traveled two years by foot from South Africa aaaalll the way to Egypt. After that lengthy experience, I am positively 100% sure that the most dangerous animal that we've met was other human beings (by FAR!!! especially crowded cities, or in remote areas where even kids wander around with AK47's and RPG's), followed by mosquitoes, microscopic creatures in the drinking water, wild bees & wasps and so on- lions, elephants, buffaloes, crocodiles, snakes and the such close the list, as they usually are intimidated when smelling, hearing/sensing or seeing humans- they usually go away. 
