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Micrurus fulvius
This iconic snake, with its bulbous head and red, yellow, and black bands, is famous as much for its potent venom as for the many rhymes—"Red and yellow, kill a fellow; red and black, friend of Jack"—penned to distinguish it from similarly patterned, nonvenomous copycats, such as the scarlet king snake. Coral snakes are extremely reclusive and generally bite humans only when handled or stepped on. Adults reach about 2 feet (0.6 meters) in length. Average lifespan in the wild is unknown, but they can live up to seven years in captivity.
They live in the wooded, sandy, and marshy areas of the southeastern United States, and spend most of their lives burrowed underground or in leaf piles. They eat lizards, frogs, and smaller snakes, including other coral snakes. Baby snakes emerge from their eggs 7 inches (17.8 centimeters) long and fully venomous.
Eastern coral snakes are relatives of the cobra, mamba, and sea snake. A bite from the notoriously venomous eastern coral snake at first seems anticlimactic. There is little or no pain or swelling at the site of the bite, and other symptoms can be delayed for 12 hours. However, if untreated by antivenin, the neurotoxin begins to disrupt the connections between the brain and the muscles, causing slurred speech, double vision, and muscular paralysis, eventually ending in respiratory or cardiac failure.
Spotted on Jan 1, 2017
Submitted on Jan 1, 2017
10 Comments
relative of the Cobra ,Mamba and sea snake! What venomous relatives,oh my!
Great series and info!
Ha ha ha... well, no, I used two lenses for the shots. The close-up was with my macro lens. it was about 3" from his nose for the shot. :) The snake did not feel threatened, so it let me get close. I have years of experience with wild snakes.... Thank you and Thanks Ashley for the nomination... Made my day :)
Wow.... I sure hope this shot was taken using a telephoto lens and not a macro! Too close for comfort? Nice photo, congrats on the nomination!
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!
Ashley... Thanks for the heads-up. Note: I did put the link in the reference area of this page. I didn't think I "NEEDED" to fact check national geographic.... I will edit ;)
First off I just want to let you know that these are beautiful photos! But several things you include in your description are wrong, and I can't let them go unnoticed ;)
There has been 1 recorded death from a coral snake since 1967. A man in Florida died in 2006 from an eastern coral when he was bitten while trying to kill it.
Also, you included that "They must literally chew on their victim to inject their venom fully, so most bites to humans don't result in death." and that is completely untrue and is a common myth. They do not have to chew at all, they can inject venom with a single bite just like most other snakes. Yes they have small fangs, no that does not make them incapable of being effective.
I realize you likely copied this info from elsewhere (which is frowned upon, especially without a citation. We want to know about this individual you spotted, not the entire species), but fact checking is always a good idea :)
Awesome series RickBohler,congrats and thanks for sharing
Thanks Mark
Great spotting