Gary Larson

Cartoonist Gary Larson, of The Far Side, also had a close call with a Burmese python he had raised from a baby. According to Larson he realized he was "living with a gigantic predator with a very small brain" one day when it tried to do him in.
Larson's adept use of snakes in his cartoons stems from his long-standing interest in herpetology.