I worry about nature deprivation, too. My children and I belong to a nature club, where the specific purpose is to take walks in the woods. The leader spent about 5 minutes telling all the kids that they would be bitten by a snake before we got home. BIG SIGH. That's not how it works. I have been walking in the woods since I was a kid and have only even seen snakes a few times. They were always sunning. They were never aggressive, and it only happened when there was silence. Loud kids and moms do not see snakes. Besides all that, I only know one person who has ever been bitten, and she pretty much stepped on the snake. But despite these things, most of the kids were TERRIFIED to be out there after that.