Is there a thing with snakes that has something to do with not handling spicy stuff like with the allegory of a cat's tongue?
Snakes don't feel the spice from capsaicin (the active ingredient of chilli peppers). It generally only works on mammals (except naked mole rats). Birds, reptiles, amphibians are usually 'immune' (in the sense that capsaicin doesn't trigger a pain response or cause irritation).
So, don't pepper spray a snake, it won't work. IIRC mace still does, but it's probably still a bad idea anyway.
Capsaicin will still bind to TRPV1 receptors found in the pit organs of certain heat-detecting snakes like vipers though (pythons also have pit organs, but they don't rely on TRPV1). It will not trigger a pain response for those snakes, but may interfere slightly with their ability to 'see' in the infrared.
