I'm interested in all animals, including snakes. I have a B.S. in zoology and have had many, many encounters with venomous snakes in the States. That said, I think the black mamba is the only one I don't want to encounter. I was hoping to see a Cape cobra in SA and didn't. I did get to see two puff adders which was great.
I got my lesson in picking up "dead" snakes. I was on my cousin's ranch in Montana and came across a rattlesnake laying in the road, it's head was all flattened out. I was sure it had been run over, it wasn't moving a bit, head flattened out, looked like it had been crushed. So, in my infinite wisdom, I stomped on it's head, grabbed it's tail to cut off the rattle. That was when it regurgitated the ground squirrel it was ingesting (thus the flattened head) and now I'm holding a 2 1/2 ft. long, live, healthy prairie rattler by the tail. This was the one and only time I've ever broken my "don't mess with venomous snakes" rule and I almost paid a steep price for it.
I stayed with a family near Grahamstown, SA, and they entertained me with a couple of stories like the puff adder in the laundry room and the Cape cobra in the bedroom I was staying in. It adds a little "spice" to the experience, doesn't it? I mean, there are guys who stare down elephants and lions who start sweating when the topic of snake stories is started. Love it.