Coral King Snake
Nov 3, 2015 07:09:53 #
Yesterday afternoon I found a young Coral King Snake, also known as a Scarlet King Snake, at the garage. The colors were downright gorgeous on this little fellow. Picked it up and played with it a little, then let it go at the edge of the woods behind the garage. In my 63 yrs, this is the very first live one I have ever seen outside of a zoo or reptile exhibit. As I'm sure many of you know, the easiest way to tell the difference between these and the deadly and venomous Coral Snake is any one of several "sayings", one example, "red on yellow will kill a fellow", meaning if the red bands touch the yellow bands, it's the deadly Coral Snake. If the red bands touch the black bands, it's the perfectly harmless Coral King. Another easy way to determine the difference is that ALL Coral Snakes have a black snout, whereas the Coral King Snake has a red snout, and yep, there are eastern and western versions, depending where you live. The colors on all of them are very beautiful. That was a nice beginning to my 22.8 mile bicycle ride in the Hellhole WMA of Francis Marion yesterday.
Nov 3, 2015 07:17:12 #
Hi Sam. Love seeing different things. Now is this a small one or do they get bigger? I have never seen any thing around here but garden snakes. And I walk the woods a lot!:(
Nov 3, 2015 07:18:10 #
Wow! He sure is a small one (or, you are very, very large!)... The first photo had me thinking he was about 3ft long... LOL! Great write-up, thanks! :lol:
Nov 3, 2015 07:21:16 #
Nov 3, 2015 07:37:14 #
sammywoody wrote:
Yesterday afternoon I found a young Coral King Sna... (show quote)
I don't like snakes of any kind but this is a great shot displaying the colors of this little guy.
Nov 3, 2015 07:37:49 #
Good post. I wouldn't touch one no matter what color-red, yellow, black, purple, or any other color.
Nov 3, 2015 07:51:19 #
Erv wrote:
Hi Sam. Love seeing different things. Now is this a small one or do they get bigger? I have never seen any thing around here but garden snakes. And I walk the woods a lot!:(
They can grow very large, several feet as I recall.
Nov 3, 2015 08:03:38 #
sammywoody wrote:
Yesterday afternoon I found a young Coral King Sna... (show quote)
Hi, Sam,
That's one beautiful creature you found. Good job differentiating the potentially deadly coral snake from the harmless "scarlet" varieties of king snakes.
Reminded me of when I lived in East Texas and we experiences some prolonged wet weather with saturated soils that forced all manner of burrowing creatures to the surface. One morning there was a gorgeous "Louisiana king snake" -one of the beautiful coral mimics- on the driveway by my car. I moved him off into the woods. Next morning, there he was again...but wait...you guessed it...same size, but this time a real coral...first I'd ever seen in the wild after a lifetime fascinated with reptiles. I took her to a nearby nature preserve for release. Truly gorgeous creatures!
Dave
Nov 3, 2015 08:31:53 #
Erv wrote:
Hi Sam. Love seeing different things. Now is this a small one or do they get bigger? I have never seen any thing around here but garden snakes. And I walk the woods a lot!:(
Oh, they range between 18"-30", with the median leaning towards the smaller side.
Nov 3, 2015 08:32:40 #
Nov 3, 2015 08:41:35 #
Nov 4, 2015 16:48:52 #
My kind of person. Enjoying nature for what it is and not what we wish it was. Thanks for taking care of it. oh yes nice shots of the snake.
Nov 4, 2015 21:18:59 #
Nov 4, 2015 23:51:52 #
Nov 5, 2015 05:39:52 #
sailorsmom wrote:
Very good shots of this colorful snake, Sammy!
Thank YOU for those nice words sir!
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