Reptiles in Madagascar - Bad luck?!

In the evenings we showed the reptile book to the people and ask them if they know the different reptiles, if they have seen them in the area and if so, if they can give us some hint as to where to find them. We were especially keen to find a boa, but when we opened the page with the snake pictures they jumped back in horror. They are extremly scared of snakes and boas in particular. I do not know why and did not manage to find out, but they are scared of a fair few things. They also believe that chameleon bring bad luck which explains why they looked at me as if I completely lost it whenever I found a chameleon and showed it to everyone with a huuuuuuuuge smile on my face. I always took heaps of photos and was so happy to have found them. To me chameleons are one of the coolest creatures on earth. Another animal they are scared of are Aye-Ayes. In some areas of Madagascar they have to move and burn down the village if an Aye-Aye has walked into the village. I just wish they would leave the animals alone, but unfortunately especially in the cities they kill all snakes and chameleons. :(