Coral Snake

I have just been told, that the snakes head was so small that it was hard to tell which end was the head.

And thanks Martin. :-))

Thank you Brendan. You are absolutely right.

Not for photographic purposes, but for this discussion, I have posted a coral snake I saw in Argentina, that had already been killed, what usually happens over there, when country people in remote areas meet any snake. xx

http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/179...

certainly, you're right !

These rhymes can be tricky and not a definitve way of ID'ing a coral snake or mimic, especially when dealing with bicolor coral snakes of black and red only or black and yellow or black and white.

sure, this one's of genus micrurus

"Red on yellow will kill a fellow, but red on black is a friend of Jack."

I will post another photo of a coral snake I saw in Argentina and that was not a venomous one. Thanks again, I have learned a lot. :-))

Thanks heaps Gilma, that helps me a lot. Funny sayings though. :-)) xx So this one definitely was a "poison fellow". :-))

To answer that question... the order of the bands distinguishes between the non-venomous mimics and the venomous coral snakes, inspiring some folk rhymes — “Red on yellow, poison fellow; red on black, safe from attack.” "Red on yellow, kill a fellow; "Red on black, friend of Jack"; and "Red into black, venom lack; red into yellow, kill a fellow." ; )

Hi BrendanSmith and Gilma Jeannette Ospino Ferreira-Norman, many thanks for the really useful comments. So this probably is a RANA Coral snake which is very venomous. There is another one which is the false coral snake, I wonder how that one looks like? How do they differ?
Many thanks anyway. :-))

In Costa Rica, we have plenty of "Coral Snake", Coralillo, we have a saying to tell if it is the real Coral Snake, and it is: "RANA" rojo, amarillo, negro, amarillo. in english= red, yellow, black, yellow...stay away from it!! : o

Hard to tell the difference sometimes. Coral snakes typically have small eyes, large scales on the top of the head and their heads are typically the same width as their neck and body. This spotting looks like a Cobra Coral snake (Micrurus corallinus). Triad color, rings encircle the body and red scales are tipped in black. Again probably impossible to determine from this photo though.