Anyone with personal snake or shark stories ?
Way too many to count. Everyone I know in real life has snake stories. It's just something we deal with in my area of Texas. Mostly Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes. I had a step-brother growing up, who had been bitten on both shins and had scars all the way down his legs from where they had to cut him open to relieve the swelling and vent the poison from rattlesnakes. I've seen horses who got bit; it is not pretty.

The sad thing is that snakes of all kinds are on their way to becoming endangered. Human beings have a mostly illogical fear of them (as BEEDEE's post exemplifies). This is partially due to religious and cultural stigma, but it's also due to ignorance of snakes. People would just rather kill them than learn about them. In truth, though, snakes are very beneficial to have around. Obviously we don't want them in our homes, but they do serve an important role in the ecological system. And the more humans try to "tame" the land, the more they exterminate snakes.

Now I ain't sayin' I haven't shot my share of rattlesnakes. I will not tolerate them around my horses (and thankfully my horses have enough "horse sense" to stay away from them!). But I do leave portions of my land wild enough that snakes can have their place too. I think it's important to keep them around just like all the other wildlife.