Please Do Not Kill The Snake
I was recently called by a neighbor to identify a snake in the garage. This is nothing new for me or many other Reptile Keepers. I went and Identified it has a Harmless Scarlet King Snake. They both were very adamant that it was in fact the Dangerous Coral snake and told me in years past they would have just taken a shovel to it. How many times have we heard this story of killing a snake because it is perceived as dangerous or in “someone’s” house?
Which is Dangerous Which is Harmless?
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In the United States we actually have Three species of Coral Snake, The Eastern The Texas and The Arizona. Yet we have many species of Tricolor snakes that people mistake for the more dangerous tricolor Corals. It is important that anyone living in an area never touch any snake they do not recognize. Even if you recognize the snake as venomous and have worked with non-venomous snakes Leave it Alone it really is not worth the risk. Please leave the handling and manipulation of venomous snakes to people who have the proper tools and training to work with them.
If you find a snake in their house “ not yours , after all you built your home on their property” You can if its in the house pull the trash bag out of your trash can and lay the can down on its side and with a long handled broom gently brush it in the can. Place the lid back on it and call your local Animal Control Agency.
If you find a snake in Its Garage the same technique hold true or take that same offending shovel and a broom and sweep it on the shovel and let it go back in its nice Rose Garden. If you just have to have it removed from its property. Sweep it in the can and call the professionals.
I believe it to be our responsibility to educate persons whenever possible. So I proceeded to explain to my two neighbors the difference and a simple way to tell them apart. I do not believe in using the old Rhyme of red touches yellow kill a fellow. As that if you run across an aberrant specimen it may not hold true. What I do like to tell people is to think of a stop sign Yellow means Caution, Red Means stop so just like a stop sign if red and yellow touch you better not.
So were you right about which is a coral and which is a Scarlet King
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Top is The dangerous Coral Snake. Bottom is the Harmless Scarlet King.
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