Do you avoid the snake exhibit at the zoo? Did you turn away from watching Snakes on a Plane...the trailer?

You may have wondered whether you were being irrational about snakes. (When's the last time you saw a live one, anyway?) Research from the University of Virginia, though, suggests that snake phobia became hardwired in humans thousands of years ago as a survival tool.

A study published in this month's Psychological Science found that its subjects – who included preschool children with no prior experiences with snakes – appear to have a natural ability to quickly detect a snake from other things.

In one experiment, subjects were asked to find the image of a snake on a computer screen cluttered with photos of eight flowers, frogs or caterpillars. Another experiment called on subjects to look for the non-threatening item among a screen full of snake photos.

In each scenario, snakes were ID'd faster, with children picking the reptiles out as rapidly as the adults, despite the difference in age and experiences.

Researchers say this backs evolutionary theories that humans who mastered survival skills were able to reproduce and pass their abilities on in the gene pool.

(A cartoon snake for the ophidiophobes out there)