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Texas
Coral Snake --Venomous-- Caldwell County, Texas: August 2004
Thanks to N., of Caldwell County, Texas, for sending in this photo Well, the party sending in this photo said the image was graphic, and it is. The coloration of this venomous coral snake is typical. Remember, "Red touch black, friend of Jack; Red touch yellow, kill a fellow..." Texas has several snakes with red, yellow and black banding like this one, but ONLY the venomous coral snake has the red bands touching the yellow ones. Note how the following non-venomous snakes follow the rule: (1) scarlet snakes of the genus Cemophora have red saddles (which look like bands when observed from above) bordered in black and surrounded by a gray or yellowish background; (2) gray-banded king snakes, and four species of milk snakes, all of the genus Lampropeltis, have bands of red bordered in black with gray or yellow bands adjacent to the black bands but not touching the red ones; (3) the Texas long-nosed snake, of the genus Rhinocheilus, has what appear to be bands of red and black, but the black "bands" are actually spinal saddles that are dark on the spine but morph to yellow-spotted black areas on the sides; a thin yellow margin separates the black saddles from red saddles that also morph to black and yellow spotted areas on the sides; this snake is often confused with the coral snake; just remember that the coral snake's bands encircle the snake's body completely, while the markings on the Texas long-nosed snake are not really bands at all; (4) the great plains ground snake, of the genus Sonora, has black saddles on a red or yellow background; the saddles extend down the sides and, from above, appear to be bands. An easy way to apply the rule on coral snake coloration is this: remember that RED and YELLOW are the two colors to watch for. RED is the international sign for danger, and YELLOW is the international sign for caution. If both RED and YELLOW BANDS on the snake touch each other, the snake, in Texas, is VENOMOUS. Otherwise, it is not venomous. Coral snakes have bands that completely encircle the snake's body; snakes with saddles that do not completely encircle the body do not have bands and this rule does not apply to them. * TERMITE ENCOUNTERS * SNAKE ENCOUNTERS * SNAKE BITE FIRST AID * SNAKE EXCLUSION * SPIDER ENCOUNTERS FOR 2008 * SPIDER ENCOUNTERS FOR 2007 * SPIDER BITE FIRST AID * SPIDER EXTERMINATION * PUSS CATERPILLAR ENCOUNTERS * PUSS CATERPILLAR FIRST AID * PUSS CATERPILLAR EXTERMINATION * Assembled & Edited by Jerry Cates. Questions? Corrections? Comments? BUG ME RIGHT NOW! ---- Ph: 512-331-1111 ---- E-Mail ---- Privacy ----BugsInTheNews * --0a0s-- |
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