Creationists, was the snake or serpent in the garden of eve a real animal?

The snake was a folktale character that is described as more cunning than other beasts of the field. But some seem to read back the beliefs that developed by the time of Revelation, in which the author identifies the great dragon, that serpent of old, with Satan and the Devil. The great dragon was probably from the Mesopotamian creation epic Enuma Elish, who was the goddess Tiamat representing the waters of chaos; Satan was originally shown as an angel testing mankind on behalf of God (as in the Book of Job); and the Devil (Greek Diabolos: Accuser/Advocate, as does Satan) is the Hellenised version of Satan, probably modelled on the goat-god Pan. So, although the serpent in the Genesis story was just that, later beliefs read back that it was Satan in disguise.