For me, my fathers side of the family are catholic and see snakes as being associated with the devil, for some it's a religious thing. So whenever they come over, they say things like my two are "Satan worshippers" or call them the devil.
For some cultures, or religions, snakes are bad luck or represent evil and it's a hard to break that view from people like that who's had that built into their lifestyle.

Not saying everyone who's catholic or religious in general are like that, it's just something that I've noticed and had personal experiences with.