Ok here is my two cents.

People most people that are afraid of snakes are ignorant about them. Their fear is based on misinformation from years of hearsay and a media presented ideal of them.

You take a group of 5-8 years olds and bring in the local "snake man" to their school. Every kid will want to touch and pet the animals. Take the same kids 10 years later and I bet a year pay that there will be 2% of them that will even be willing to be in the same room with the same animal. What happened they watched T.V and listened to old wives tales. Their fear is in fact not their own but their mom and dads that they have adopted and reinforced with the media and Va' la' you have an instant phobia.

If I've said it once I've said it 900 times. This is why as reptile keepers education is our greatest tool. It is because of a lack of education that our hobby faces every day, somewhere, on some level a misinformed or ignorant opposition. It is our job as responsible herpetoculturist regardless of your level to be knowledgeable enough about our hobby to intelligently be able to offer the facts about our belove pets. We might never see a day when reptiles replace the family dog. But we may see the day that we no longer have to stand before our local law makers and try to present 20 years of positive experience in a 5 minute deposition just to be able to continue to keep and have a daily personal relationship with these amazing animals.

Please ignorance is the seed of fear and people fear what they don't understand.