I Saw a Coral Snake this Morning (live in, eat)

[G Grasshopper]

I was working in my back yard this morning, enlarging the grassless area around a tree so that I could mulch it, when I saw a small, beautiful snake on the other side of the tree from me. It was smaller than the diameter of a pencil, so a young one. It was obviously intimidated by me, turned around, and made for the fence, the other side of which is greenbelt. Before it slithered under the fence, I kept saying "Red next to yellow, kill a fellow; red next to black, its alright Jack," but this baby was definitely red next to yellow. It was NOT an aggressive snake; it wanted to get away!

[janejanejanejanejane]

it's those snakes that need to die.... too bad you did not take a shovel to it.
While they get a good bite in so rarely, if you do get a good bite, say your goodbyes. No anti-venom to be found.

[mm57553]

We see them regularly. Just so you know, the ones that looks like coral snakes but are not venomous don't live in this area. So you can save yourself the trouble of trying to remember the saying. If you see a snakes with red, yellow, and black stripes around here, it's a coral snake.

And they are not very aggressive. They are also pretty vibrant, so they are really easy to spot (and avoid).

[RooCeleste]

Scary! I saw one (dead) in the street last year. If it hadn't already been dead, it would have after I was finished with it!

[BriansZ]

Originally Posted by janejanejanejanejane

if you do get a good bite, say your goodbyes. No anti-venom to be found.

There is anti-venom just a few hours away. Unfortunately, it's in a different country.

If you get bit, go to a hospital. Anyone that seeks treatment should survive a Coral snake bite, even without any more anti-venom available.

[sxrckr]

Let's not get people all worked up just to kill any snake they see. With most, we have invaded where they already live and they are more frightened of us than we are of them. They also eat the mice that can sometimes carry disease.

[Trainwreck20]

Coral snakes, although technically very deadly, aren't all that deadly in reality. They rarely bite (rather, they try to flee), have no fangs, and have tiny mouths relative to similar sized snakes. Coral snakes fatalities are extremely rare. The last news about a coral snake death involved some very drunk guys in Florida (circa 2006). The article said it was likely the first fatality from a coral snake bite in over 40 years.

[verybadgnome]

Its really tiring hearing all these stories in the media and anecdotal stuff on the net about the dangers of sharks, snakes, bears, wolves etc. when lowly mosquitoes and rats have killed far, far more people. Hell, you are much more likely to die from the prescription meds in your bathroom than anything out in your yard. And what about the 35-40k a year dead from auto accidents?

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

Its really tiring hearing all these stories in the media and anecdotal stuff on the net about the dangers of sharks, snakes, bears, wolves etc. when lowly mosquitoes and rats have killed far, far more people. Hell, you are much more likely to die from the prescription meds in your bathroom than anything out in your yard. And what about the 35-40k a year dead from auto accidents?

^This.

[SickOfCalifornia]

Coral snakes have a mouth roughly the size of an eraser at the end of a pencil. They also do not "strike" like rattlesnakes. To get bitten by one, you would have to be extremely negligent. In fact, almost all the known cases of coral snake bites involve the person who was bitten handling the snake, and even then usually after holding the snake for a long period of time. Coral snakes do not stand their ground and flee when disturbed. Perhaps the only real danger of being bitten by one would be if you were to sit on one... and even then, there is no way their miniscule teeth or mouth could bite through clothing. As long as you don't ever pick one up, I would say that they pose no real danger to you.