There were certain snakes Steve Irwin didn’t try to hold. Notice he never went after a black mamba, and didn’t get within striking range of an Eastern Diamondback. These are not the deadly but docile snakes of the Outback.
I have to disagree about the Black Mamba. There was one episode where he did go after one, about an eight footer. He picked it up by the tail and it struck constantly, missing him each time, sometimes only by a wee bit. The whole thing was just about as tense as watching a Wallenda cross a huge canyon on a windy day on a high wire with no protection.
I saw Steve Erwin in the Appalachians with rattle snakes all around him. In fact, while he was squatted down he pointed to the ground between his legs and one crawled right between his feet.