Coral snakes? Anyone know much about these?

I was just outside letting the dogs out and one of the dogs was after something in the grass, usually a frog or something like that. What shot out of the grass looked like a coral snake. I didn't get a good look, he wanted out of the dogs way but it was red, black and yellow. About 6 inches long. I thought those stayed around water like ponds etc. My back patio is at least 40 yards from our lagoon. It's lawn for most of the distance.

Should I really be worried that snake is creeping around my house? I know they're very deadly but I had one guy tell me years ago that they're small and they're teeth are very small so it's very hard to really get bit by them.

Should I be doing a full on snake hunt to find this guy? If so where are they likely to be hanging out?

Problem is more that I have small children. I have many 3-7 years olds running around my back yard and I'm not liking a coral snake out there. What to do?

Maybe it's a kingsnake instead of a coral snake.

Check out these links:

http://www.uga.edu/srelherp/snakes/lamtri.htm

http://www.bio.davidson.edu/projects/herpcons/herps_of_NC/snakes/SnakeID/All.asp

Entlie

I've heard an old wive's tale saying to identify the difference between a coral snake and a king snake was:

Coral Snake: red on yellow kill a fella

King Snake: red on black pat a man on the back

Anyone else heard of such sayings?

I know Coral's like humid leaf litter of hardwood forest. Their bite injures the nervious system of their victim. That's about all I know other than stay clear of them. I wouldn't want one on my property and I'd search him out an remove him if I did have one around.

Remember "red and yellow will kill a fellow"
Meaning if the red and yellow bands touch it ID's as a Coral Snake.
That's a fact not an old wives tale.

http://www.uga.edu/srelherp/snakes/micful.htm

If a black or dark band seperates the red and yellow it's a Scarlet Kingsnake.

Odds are you saw a Kingsnake.
Corals are VERY rare and ususally only seen in the early morning or at dusk.

I've caught dozens of Scarlets down there, BUT BE SURE!
If you see it again and it ID's as a Coral (which I highly doubt0 call your County Extension Office.
If it's a Scarlet enjoy your little mouser....

Ric


This message was edited Jun 10, 2007 7:25 AM

I heard a talk recently by the naturalist at OldField and he mentioned a quick way to tell them apart is that the Coral always has a black head. Another hint I always remember is that the red and yellow are touching on a Coral and that reminds me of a caution signal on a traffic light (pathetic, I know but I am very elementary at times). He also mentioned that the corals are reclusive and do not come out trying to bite someone but will only bite when cornered. I would not want a coral in the yard with little kids either but I would make sure which it is before *encouraging* it to leave the premises. I should think that Marvin Bouknight, the naturalist at OldField or Carlos Chacon, naturalist at Honey Horn would be happy to talk with you and give you advice.

When my kids were young I warned them to stay away from all snakes and promised to explain which ones were safe when they were older. That was a tactical error on my part. As soon as they learned which snakes were friendly they brought them into the house and they always seemed to escape. The naturalist at Hunting Island recently let my 2 1/2 year old grandson hold a King snake and you have never seen such a huge grin on a tiny persons face.

I stomp around my garden to scare ANY critters before reaching into anything to pull a weed. It was hard to learn but finally I have accepted that the snakes are a good thing to have and they do stay away from me as long as I don't startle them. Funny, but they do not seem to mind startling me at all. LOL

All good advice. The black head is the thing to remember. Corals are pretty much tropical snakes, I saw them with some frequency in S. Florida. We didn't worry about them, and would "re-home" them when possible. They (unlike the pygmy rattlers) would just want to be as far from us as possible. They aren't always small, though. My SO found one that had been run over that was a bit over 3 feet long. For some reason that resided in my freezer until the hurricanes made it a bit warm for such things...
Margo

Corals don't always have a black head.
West coast and some SW one's have a yellow nose.....
Stay w/ the red/yellow bands touching as the ID.
Then you won't get complacent.
Remember they are extremely rare in your area.
Remember also their bite (even rarer) is almost always fatal......


If you saw one little scarlet odds are there will be more from the same hatching.
If it POSITIVELY ID's as a scarlet enjoy them.

Ric


Ric

If I ever saw a 3' coral I would move to Alaska or someplace like that.

Ardesia, I'd be tail-gating your trip!

I was barefooted so I really didn't get a long enough look. Caught me surprise, I wasn't expecting that to come flying out of the grass at high speed. Hopefully it wasn't a coral snake. I probably won't see him again, maybe one of the cats will get him. I have a pretty snake free yard becuase of 5 outdoor cats on my street. They seem to really like killing snakes. The copperheads are what worries me with the kids, they don't move out of your way so it's easy to step on one.

I wasn't going to mention them.
Since you know about them Good!
Barefoot and in Copperhead Country.... welllll....... lol!
They definitely have attitude!

I've caught and relocated a few around here.
Developers keep carving up the woods and they keep popping up in backyards.

Ric

The copperheads are an easy kill for the cats so I've never seen one on our street. The blue herons also eat snakes and we have a couple of those hanging out in our lagoon. As far as attitude, copperheads aren't aggressive at all it's a matter of stepping on them by accident. You want attitude water moccasin's are what you want to play with. You won't accidently step on one and you will know they're there. My nieghbor tried to run one over on her tractor, she missed and the snake went after the tractor. He was probably after her leg. If given a chance they will bite. All around fun snake to deal with especially if they're big.

LOL!
We had one chase our John Boat down in FL.
We had come in w/ a trolling motor and then paddles to look at alligators.....
Next thing I knew the "Loch Ness Monster" was trying to get into the boat....
Needless to say we got out of there w/ the BIG motor! lol

Ric

YIKES Corey, did you see this?

http://www.beaufortgazette.com/local_news/story/6546819p-5826336c.html

I saw that story in the paper today and that's exactly how it happens. My friends wife had the exact thing happen. She was looking for a ball in the rough, something poked her and she thought it was a thorn or something like that. A few hours later her leg swelled up and she went to the hospital. Doctor thought it was a snake bit right off the bat so she didn't run into as much trouble as the little girl. It seems to happen on Hilton Head a lot becuase all the golf guys have stories of people stepping on copperheads. Never heard of it being fatal.

It is strange but I live on a wooded marsh front lot and rarely see snakes although my habitat is perfect for them. The ones I do see are always non poisonous varieties. The folks who live on the golf courses see copperheads and rattlers (and gators) frequently.

One friend was gardening and felt something sting. She told me it was a snake bite but not the poisonous kind because it did not swell up or hurt at all. When I askedr her if she was sure it was a snake she said "sure, what else leaves two holes in your arm". Whew, was she lucky or what. I have since learned that copperheads may not always inject their venom especially if they realize a person is not snake food.

Disagree on the "attitude" of copperheads, coreHHI! During mating season, those things become VERY aggressive. Many years ago in Connecticut my dad came up to visit us in early spring. It was such a warm, nice day I decided to remove the pool cover. He wanted to fold it up and put it away on the spot. I said, "no, I'll put it away later". He predicted "when I come visit again in the summer, that pool cover will still be right where it is today" (rolled up alongside the pool). He was right. So we decided to get the thing put away properly in late May/early June (can't really remember) on his next visit. I took one end of the roll, he took the other. As he reached for the end of the rolled up tarp, he went 4 ft straight up in the air, and hit the ground running, with a good 31/2'-4'copperhead in hot pursuit. That thing wanted to get him real bad! I dispatched the thing with an ax after a Laurel and Hardy series of moves. After numerous chops with the ax, that thing only had 6" of body left to it's head, but it still came directly after me! Then we proceeded to try to move the tarp again. Same deal. This time, it was a much smaller version, but equally angry. To this day, I believe those copperheads were in that tarp doing the wild thing, and resented being disturbed. Considering the disparity in size, I'd say the "mama" was a cradle-robber. But BOTH were equally aggressive! I agree, most snakes are not aggressive toward things they can't eat, most of the time. But be careful during mating season---those snakes just ain't themselves at that time!

i wouldnt say that corals are rare, but they certainly arent common. my dad is finishing the development of hampton hall and doing hampton pointe, and at least once a week they see one... especially in the swamps.
they have very small mouths, so they can usually only successfully bite you on the hand or foot, a very good reason not to go barefoot into the woods or wearing flipflops
just last week at hilton head christian academy, it was dusk and had just finished raining, i was helping my mom move her classroom an i stepped on a shallow storm drain, only about a foot deep, and there was a huge cottonmouth just waiting to bite me. i was in flipflops, so the Lord must have been looking out for me, because it just ran away and didn't get me
here is a copperhead in my neighborhood

a big black snake that got in my yard. we get a lot of these

we've been getting a lot of armadillos lately. they've torn up the pinestraw and some of the flowerbeds. any of yall had problems w/ these

I wouldn't say Coral snakes are rare around here either although they are reclusive and rarely seen. There is an active nest on Ladys Island that I know of.

That is one evil looking Copperhead; glad you scared the other away.

Diehard I think that is a black racer. Harmless.

As far as the maybe coral, I looked around for holes in the dirt around my patio and then pitch forked the area. I only have one small bed and if he lives around the back door he would be there. Also the dogs we'll find him if he's out of his hole. Hopefully he doesn't like being bothered and will move to some place else.

yeah i didn't mean to imply that it was dangerous. just an example of the snakes in my yard. there's been a good bit of 'em coming here these days. its nice to know what it is! and by "black snake" i meant a snake that is black, not its name. thanks for naming it though!

A guy down the street found a dead King snake in his pool. Looks like one of his/her off spring headed my way. I still hope I don't see it again but it's probably a King snake.