I've lived in the south my whole life, & I used to have a huge, huge fear of snakes.
As I've gotten older, I've learned to appreciate the good snakes more, & I do like another PP & just try not to think about snakes but still stay semi-alert & keep my eyes open especially in "snaky" areas.
I don't mind the snakes if I can see them, but I'm scared to death of being suddenly surprised by a snake. We have a ledge at the top of our shower in our master bathroom &, if I think about it too closely before I get in, I'll convince myself there's a snake up there which will fall on my while shower. So, I'll have to get DH or one of the kids to physically check the ledge before I can get in the shower.
I will NOT go to the bathroom at night w/o first turning on the light because I'm afraid a snake will be in the toilet. Years ago, when we were vacationing in Florida, in one of the local papers, I read about a man who had found a snake in his toilet, & that was it for me. Now, just last week, a woman in TN, not far from where we live, found a garter snake in her toilet.
When I was younger & still living at my parents' house, my dad found a snake in the garage. I now imagine that ALL garages must have snakes lurking about, so I do NOTHING in our garage except get in & out of our cars & go in & out the back door into the house.
My mother-in-law told me about one of her friends finding a snake curled up in the corner of her closet, so I'm a little leery of reaching my hand into the dark corners of our closets too.
But most snakes really are harmless & are beneficial. One way I've tried to get over my fear a bit is to educate myself, &, when we visit places like zoos, I'll look at the snakes & read about them. There is a pair of red-tailed green rat snakes at the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, FL, & I absolutely LOVE those 2 snakes. I've been visiting & watching them since they were juveniles, & they just fascinate me... they're so pretty!
My son had his 3rd birthday party at our local zoo, &, as part of the party package, the zookeepers had 3-4 animals that came to the party to "visit" w/ the children. One of the animals was a ball python, & I actually held it!
You do have to be careful of the venomous snakes. 2 years ago, our younger son's friend was bitten by a copperhead in his family's garden. He was bitten on his toe & was in the hospital for a day, but he's completely fine now.
I think some places are snakier than others. We live in a suburban neighborhood, &, while I've seen a couple of snakes here & there over the years, we're actually more overrun w/ deer.