FUN FACT: "Snake shot" using dust in 22 caliber were used to collect butterflies without damaging them . Mine, except the 22 caliber ones (I don't bother with them anymore) are all #9 shot in 38/357, 40, 45acp. I would feel much better if they were 7.5 shot. While true there's a good chance that by the time you notice a snake, you may have already been bitten, or you have time to move away, THEN AGAIN MAYBE NOT. A 22 shot DID KILL a mouse from a 22 rifle, & a 38/357 #9 shot that ricochet'd off a wet cardboard target, hit me square in the belly @ app 20' & I did not feel it AT ALL, I did have "a rash the following day & no holes in my T-shirt. NO other animal experimentation to report.