![]() Though a few legitimate accidents have occurred, these bites happen almost exclusively when the snakes are harassed and picked up.ĭespite these facts, Coral Snakes are obviously best left alone. Contrary to many beliefs, Coral snakes are never aggressive, and will only bite a person when threatened. Although these snakes have the potential to deliver a lethal bite, they have smaller fangs and a fairly poor delivery system compared to the pit vipers that inhabit our country. They are fossorial, spending most of their time underground or under cover, and will avoid human contact at all costs. Our native Corals are relatively small, shy and reclusive. It is therefore extremely important that you treat any potential Coral snake bite as an emergency, and seek immediate medical attention.Īs scary as that sounds, these snakes should be respected, not feared. There are quite a few cases in which symptoms of envenomation have not presented themselves immediately. While on the unfortunate topic of bites, it should be noted, that Coral snake bites are often no more painful than the bite of a harmless snake, but please don’t let that fool you into thinking that you escaped envenomation. Although their fangs are small, they are long enough to break the skin, which allows their venom to enter your blood stream. Not only are Coral snake fangs located in the front of their mouths, as is the case with all Elapids, but they do not have to chew on you to inject venom. Another common myth that needs to go away, is that Coral snakes are “rear-fanged” with tiny teeth, requiring them to “chew” on you to inject any venom. If you pick up one of these snakes, it will potentially bite any part of your body within reach. You may have heard that Coral snakes have very small mouths, and can only bite you on the webbing between your fingers. Unfortunately, there are at least a couple of very common myths about Coral snake bites that we want to address. It is predominately neurotoxic meaning that it attacks the nervous system and will typically kill its victims by paralyzing the breathing muscles, resulting in asphyxiation. Elapid venom is drop-for-drop, the most toxic of all snake venoms. ![]() Coral snakes belong to the infamous Elapid family, which is home to snakes like Cobras, Mambas and Sea Snakes. The three “culprits” as indicated on this map, are the Eastern Coral, the Texas Coral and the Arizona Coral snakes. If you don’t live within one of the highlighted areas, you can rest assured that you won’t run into one of these critters in your back yard. The map below shows the natural range of our native Coral snakes. Perhaps one of the best ways to know if you might run into a Coral snake, is by knowing where they live. There are only three types of Coral Snake in the United States and they all look quite similar (to the lay person), while being somewhat easily identifiable. Who to watch out for: “ Red next to Yellow, kills a fellow.” Of course we know that Coral snakes have the fangs and venom to back up that statement, but what of the so-called mimics? There is still much debate regarding “mimics” and the benefits of being brightly colored, but the most common assumption, is that these critters are copy-cats, hoping to avoid predation by assuming the color pattern of their notoriously toxic cousins. These ultra-bright colors, however, are one of nature’s ways of saying, “Stay Away”! These snakes, taking the exact opposite approach to their camouflage-expert cousins, would seem more at home in a candy store, than in their native habitat. Their colors can be so vibrant as to almost seem jewel-like. Many would agree, and the pet industry would support the thought, that tri-color (banded with three colors) snakes are amongst the most beautiful serpents in our country. Our intention with this article, is to help people be able to better identify snakes they see in the wild, and to know which ones to avoid, and those that should be appreciated, and then left to go on their way. There are however, a few exceptions to the rule, which we will address toward the end. However, the phrase is intended to be a quick rhyme to help folks identify if a snake is venomous or harmless, and for the “most part” it works in the United States. If only Jack was compelled to return the favor once in a while, we would have a lot less hacked-up serpents. You’ve probably heard some variation of the old saying “Red next to yellow kills a fellow. For the purpose of this article, we will concentrate on Coral Snakes and some of their similar looking, yet harmless relatives. These are the rattlesnakes, Copperheads, Water Moccasins (Cotton Mouths), and the Coral snakes. Only 4 families of venomous snakes exist in the United States.
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