The thing about venomous snakes (at least in the US) is that most people think they are WAY more common and have a greater range than they do, largely because s

The thing about venomous snakes (at least in the US) is that most people think they are WAY more common and have a greater range than they do, largely because so many harmless snakes look like venomous snakes. I know a lot of people in Kansas/Iowa/Missouri/Nebraska that are sure they've been in cottonmouth/water moccasin-infested areas, but the truth is neither snake actually occurs in those area. Similarly with Copperheads, although those do occur in a sliver of eastern Kansas and most of Missouri. Coral snakes only occur in the extreme south and east reaches of the US, but people worry about them everywhere. Probably because the harmless milk snake occurs in most of the US and people don't know the difference.