West Virginia is the only state where snake handling is legal. In 8th grade social studies class we were all required to watch a documentary on snake handling. They interviewed a bunch of people that handled snakes. At the end of the film they told us when every single one of them died from snakebite.

When my dad would happen across a snake while ginsenging he would collect them and sell them to the churches. $20 a piece. Some days he brought home more copperheads and rattlesnakes than he did ginseng.