Snakes:   The snake, or serpent, first found notoriety as Satan personified (or should that be ophidified?) in the Garden of Eden. The serpent was punished by God by being reduced to crawling on its belly. Interestingly, zoologists will tell you (if you ask them nicely) that snakes have hip-bones, indicating that they may once indeed have had legs and walked!

The unpleasantness of a hangover is compared to a snake's bite which is presumably the root of the cocktail of the same name. More encouragingly, the disciples were instructed by Jesus to be "as shrewd as snakes" and were given power to handle snakes safely. NB - h2gb does not necessarily recommend trying this at home!