Coral Snake

Read on to know more about the gaudiest snake in America…

The coral snakes (Micrurus fulvius tenere) are one of the easiest species of snakes that can be recognized because of the colorful bands of red, black and white on their body. These snakes are non-aggressive in nature and bite only when provoked. They are found very commonly in the northern parts of United States and also in a few parts in south eastern North Carolina, Texas and Mexico.

Coral snakes are relatives of the cobra and there bites though very dangerous are less fatal when compared to the bites of the cobra or the rattlesnake.

Appearance

The average length of the coral snake is between 24 and 30 to inches while the length of the hatchlings can range from 7 to 11 inches. The head of the snake is usually not much wider than the body which is cylindrical and the body is covered with shiny scales. Usually the count of the scales around the mid-body is 21 – 23.

The body is circled with black, red and white (in some cases, off-white or pale yellow). The bands vary in width which often depends on the population. Further, the red bands can vary in its shade from blood red to orange right up to pink. Sometimes, the black bands widen and cross over the red bands on the back of the snake’s body. These bands continue across the belly bit the color is a little paler, faded in appearance and slightly irregular. The nose of the coral snake is usually black and may contain a few blotches of red in some cases. This is followed by the white band.

When a red band is followed by two black bands, the combination is referred to a ‘triad’. Triad counts are one of the methods that are used along with the location of the first white ring to determine subspecies.

Behavior

Coral snakes by nature are rather elusive that spend a major portion of their life buried in the ground or in the leaf litter and are generally nocturnal. They come out only during the rainy season or when it is time to breed. When the snake is disturbed, it often lays its head out of sight and rattles its flattened tail which produces a popping sound.

The diet of the coral snake consists of amphibians, reptiles, snakes and small lizards. These snakes are also the only poisonous snakes in America that lay eggs. Eggs are laid in clutches of 2 to 3 eggs.

Venom

Coral snakes are not very aggressive creatures, rather they are reclusive and they bite only when provoked. Most bites occur because of accidental handling of the snake during gardening or when small children pick it up after being attracted by its colors. As the coral snakes are pretty small in size, they have small fangs and their bites are frequently ineffective and they have difficulty in penetrating thick clothes and shoes. The fangs are fixed to the front of their top jaw. As the venom takes a little time to take effect, these snakes have the tendency of holding on to the victim after biting it.

Despite the small fangs, the coral snakes are very venomous which is a powerful neurotoxin and is capable of killing an adult. The estimated fatality rate was 10% in the United States before the coral snake anti-venom was made available. Fortunately, since the availability of the anti-venom no deaths related to coral snake bites have been reported.

Please be aware that any bite from a coral snake has to be considered life threatening and immediate treatment should be made available as when the neurotoxin takes effect, it can cause the neurotransmitters between the brain and the muscles to malfunction. The initial symptoms will be slurred speech, difficulty in swallowing, double vision. These symptoms quickly progress to a respiratory arrest and a cardiac failure which ultimately causes the death of the victim. Further, you must remember that various anti-venoms are available for the various species of coral snake and not one type of anti-venom can treat snakes bites from all species of snake bites. This makes the treatment rather difficult and expensive.