"Snake" isn't a word with nice connotations, unfortunately for the beasts in question. "Serpent" doesn't do them any favours either, nor does "viper". Then there's Eve and Cleopatra, and St Paddy didn't do much for their good name. God would never have sent a snake, one of evolution's finest manifestations, as a symbol of evil to Eden, therefore there is no God and Genesis is a pack of lies. Snakes are the very epitome of that synergy of form and function that we call Beauty. I love 'em!