Snakes have appeared in literature for millenia. Written and spoken language can have a powerful impact on how an animal is portrayed, particularly when there has been no direct experience with the animal. Many popular sayings such as "speaking with a forked tongue" can perpetuate beliefs that snakes are dangerous or evil. Crist (1999) theorized that the language with which animals were written may even determine human perception of animals as subjects - beings experiencing the world as a meaningful place rather than just existing in it, or animals as objects - with no control or comprehension of the behaviors in which they engage. Bart (1972) suggested that fairy tales and children's books dictated what animals we should and should not like. Along these lines, a study was conducted to examine wildlife featured in children's books (More 1979). Of the 4,932 books that featured animals, about 5% (n = 253) mentioned reptiles or a group of reptiles in their titles. Over 60% referred to mammals and almost 20% featured birds. A greater number of titles (n = 347) featured insects or insect groups than reptiles. More suggested that the number of titles that featured a species or group was indicative of the preference (i.e. popularity) for a species or group. It may also be indicative of the groups of wildlife that the authors themselves were most familiar with, and thus, able to write about, although that information was not obtained or mentioned in the study.
References
Bart, W. M. 1972. A hierarchy among attitudes toward animals. Journal of Environmental Education 3:4-6.
Bixler, R. D., C. L. Carlisle, W.E. Hammitt, and M. F. Floyd. 1994. Observed fears and discomforts among urban students on field trips to wildland areas. Journal of Environmental Education 26(1):24-33.
Crist, E. 1999. Images of animals: anthropomorphism and animal mind. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Mattison, C. 1996. The encyclopedia of snakes. New York: Facts on File, Inc.
Moore, T. A. 1979. Wildlife preferences and children's books. Wildlife Society Bulletin 7:274-278.
Nissenson, M. and S. Jonas. 1995. Snake charm. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc.