Snakes are something I am all too familiar with, having grown up playing in the woods in an area (SE TX) litterally infested with many varietys of poisonous and non-poisonous snakes. I hear ya loud and clear. Of course all shoes really do is 1) let the snake know youre coming ahead of time so you dont sneak up on him and force him in to a defensive posture and 2) "maybe if you're lucky" you'll get bit on the foot rather thyan the ankle and the fangs won't penetrate through the shoe. Of course the advantage of barefoot hiking seems to be (and obviously I'm a newbie barefooter and could be way off here) that you are in fact muuuuuuch more attentive and aware of where, when and how you step as you're walking along so you "should" be a lot less likely to step on anything you don't want to step on.