instead of instantly attaching to your face and just blocking your actions, the snake makes a rattle sound and blinks before attaching to you and the player can look at it and press an action button like "F" to deflect the attack. if not deflected in time the snake attaches to you like normal but to balance it also deals damage over time.
#Snake QTE alteration to make it more "fair"
autumn peak
an example blink effect(stolen directly from super smash bros)
I believe the main frustration caused by the snake right now is that it has no counterplay and thus feels like an unfair punishment
inland rose
if they made them ethereal like vultures or spawned enemies that could work