My grandmother always used to say, "That snake is more afraid of you than you are of it."

Grandma was a poor judge of my fear, but I grew up believing her: there is no need to fear snakes. But as a society, the fear of snakes is one of our strongest phobias.

And rightly so. Snakes can be deadly as evidenced by the fateful day a simple, little green grass snake slithered into the Miller's home.