YELLOW, RED... YER DEAD

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speakin of critters in the yard I came across this from a few summers back. I call it the THE YEAR OF THE CORAL SNAKE...

because after never seeing one in the wild we saw no less than 4 that year. it was exceptionally dry that year.. so perhaps they were forced into the open.



 
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Marshwheeling said:
"Yellow next to black, you're all right, Jack. Yellow next to red, you're dead."

There's a local artist guy who also keeps snakes and brings them around for demonstrations. That's the way he tells it. I hope I remember that right.
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The snake in the OP appears to satisfy both conditions. I never liked that old tale. Where do you start from? Tail end? Head?
 
Cool find. He's a cute (but deadly) little fella. For reference, what's the diameter of that plastic pipe. He appears to be about 24-28 inches long, no? I believe that would make him a "healthy-sized" adult.
 
I think that pipe is 6'' diameter

its used to provide below ground surface operation of a "bubbler" sprinkler head... so yes, a pretty good sized coral.

he seemed unconcerned at my presence and I let him go on his way peacefully.
 
Harmless King Snakes have a red, black yellow banding in which the yellow never touches red. The poisonous Coral Snake-like the one pictured in the original post have some black touching yellow and a lot of yellow touching red. Either way, in Texas that would be a formerly living Coral Snake in my yard.
 
The color pattern doesn't hold for some tropical coral snakes.
However, it does for both of the US coral genera.

If memory serves, these are Micrurus and Micuroides (sp?) One is largely limited to AZ, I think.

I've seen only one coral in the wild, in an East Texas forest. I had a pistol, but we were well away from homes and he wasn't aggressive, so I didn't shoot.

But I was very careful where I sat on a log afterwards.

If Stirling sees this, maybe he'll tell us about the quite different South African coral snake. Or, Patvince can; he's a herpetologist.
 
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The way it was taught to me:
"Red on yellow, kill a fellow. Red on black, pat him on the back"

Quick check for the U.S version: Coral snakes have black noses, king snakes don't.
We have lots of those little guys here, so it's something I have to deal with frequently. That's a healthy specimen you have there, larger than average.
 
The rhyme I was taught to remember the difference between the venomous coral snake and harmless mimics reads;

"Red touch yellow, kill a fellow, red touch black, friend of Jack."

Like Leslie says, coral snakes have black noses.
 
I'll look for the yellow and red.....

Leslie Sapp said:
The way it was taught to me:
"Red on yellow, kill a fellow. Red on black, pat him on the back"

Quick check for the U.S version: Coral snakes have black noses, king snakes don't.
We have lots of those little guys here, so it's something I have to deal with frequently. That's a healthy specimen you have there, larger than average.
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.....I'm not getting close enough to see if it has a black nose!!:eek::eek::eek:
 
Yes, at least please tell.....

Please tell us your general local. I'm in the SE and see a LOT of venomous snakes but have never seen a coral snake.

I remember a kid picked a small one up at recess and put it in his pocket. When he sat down it bit him and he collapsed at his desk.

It seems that the last coral snake fatality was in 2009 when the victim didn't seek medical help. Interestingly, bites are so rare that it is uneconomical to produce and store antivenin for coral snake poisoning. So don't get bit by one.
 
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. Interestingly, bites are so rare that it is uneconomical to produce and store antivenin for coral snake poisoning. So don't get bit by one
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Friend of a friend story that I heard once, supposed to be true:

A guy caught one and while playing with it, let it get hold of the web between his thumb and forefinger. He goes to the ER. Now think for a moment: How many cases of coral snake bite does an ER doctor treat in his career?
So, the staff is frantically flipping through all the books and documentation they have on hand, trying to figure out what antivenom, what dosage,etc. The guy looks up from the gurney, sees this and asks, "You guys don't know what you're doing?"

Without looking up from the book he was scanning, the doc replies, "No, we've never had anybody live this long!":eek:
 
16thVACav said:
How about adding your state to your profile so we can avoid it in the future?;)
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I agree.

I grew up in spent a fair amount of my adult life in SD where all we had were a couple variants of rattle snakes - which are generally pretty honest and upfront with you.

Now I live in NC where we have pretty much every species of poisonous snake and spider found in the US, along with a few alligators.
 
Just outside of sw Houston,tx. ...close to the brazos river
 
Here's another one. A bull snake or rat snake...whatever. But you can see he can easily cover over half a road lane



 
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