Want to know how to tell the difference between a venomous coral snake and a non-venomous king snake that is similar to a coral snake? They both have black, red, and yellow rings, making them difficult to tell apart when seen in the wild. If you see these snakes in North America, this article can help you tell the difference.
Step
Method 1 of 2: Observing the Color of the Snake
Step 1. Examine the snake ring pattern
Determine if the red and yellow rings touch on the snake you see. If so, it's a venomous coral snake. This is the easiest way to tell the reef snake from the red king snake in the US.
- In coral snakes, the ring pattern is red, yellow, black, yellow, red.
- In red king snakes, the ring pattern is red, black, yellow, black, red, or possibly blue.
Step 2. See if the snake has a black and yellow tail
The tail of a rattlesnake has only black and yellow rings, nothing red. The non-venomous red king snake has the same color pattern all over its body.
Step 3. Look at the color and shape of the snake's head
Decide if the head is yellow and black or red and black. The head of the coral snake is black, with a short snout. The head of the red king snake is mostly red, with an elongated snout.
Step 4. Learn a rhyme about the difference between the two snakes
People in areas where coral snakes and red king snakes are common have composed this catchy rhyme to memorize what snakes are venomous and non-venomous.
- Red touches yellow, kills a fellow. Red touches black, friend of Jack.
- Red touches yellow, kills a fellow. Red touches black, venom lack.
- Red touches yellow, death says hello. Black touches red, keep your head.
- Yellow touches red, you'll be dead. Red touches black, eat Cracker Jacks.
- Red touches yellow, you're a dead fellow. Red touches black you're all right Jack.
Step 5. Remember that this rule only applies to snakes in the US
The recommendations in this article apply only to coral snakes native to North America: Micrurus fulvius (the common or eastern coral snake), Micrurus tener (Texas coral snake), and Micruroides euryxanthus (Arizona coral snake), found in the US south and west.
- Unfortunately, in other places, the patterns of coral snakes and king snakes are sometimes very different. So we can't tell if a snake is venomous or non-venomous without knowing the species of the snake.
- This means that the above verse does not apply to coral snakes elsewhere, even though they are similar to coral snakes in North America.
Method 2 of 2: Understanding Behavioral Differences
Step 1. Be careful of logs and areas covered with leaves
Both coral snakes and red king snakes like to spend time under logs and leaves on the ground from morning to evening. They can also be found in caves and large rock crevices. Be careful when you lift boulders or logs, or enter underground areas.
Step 2. See if there is a king snake crawling on the tree
If you see a colorful snake with a ring pattern crawling along a tree, it's probably a non-venomous king snake. Coral snakes rarely crawl trees. You should still be careful to make sure it's not a rock snake, and stay safe by not getting too close to it.
Step 3. Check for defensive behavior
When coral snakes feel threatened, they move their tail and head back and forth to confuse predators. The king snake doesn't behave like this. If you see a snake wagging its head and tail strangely, it's probably a rock snake, so don't go near it.
- Coral snakes are very solitary, and are very, very rarely seen in the wild. This snake only attacks when it feels very, very threatened. So if you see a reef snake behaving defensively like this, you may have time to go.
- The king snake is so named because it eats other types of snakes, including venomous ones. King snakes usually don't behave in this defensive manner, but may hiss and wag their tails like venomous snakes.
Step 4. Watch out for the typical coral snake bite
To inject venom, coral snakes must pinch and chew their prey. Since we can usually release a coral snake before it injects its venom, humans rarely die from a coral snake bite. However, if left untreated, coral snake bites can lead to heart attacks and death.
- Coral snake bites are not very painful at first. However, if the venom has been injected, the victim will be slurred, paralyzed, and experience double vision.
- If you are bitten by a coral snake, stay calm, remove clothing and jewelry that is blocking the wound, and seek medical attention immediately.
Tips
One way to determine which species of coral snake is poisonous, although the color pattern may vary between species, is that the venomous coral snake has a very blunt head and is black to the back of its eyes. In addition, usually the head of a charcoal snake has two colors
Warning
- Be careful whenever you are working, walking, resting, etc. in areas where snakes are common.
- Coral snakes are very venomous, stay away from them.
- The red king snake is not venomous but it still bites and it hurts.
- This rule does not always apply to every species of coral snake, for example Micrurus frontali has a red, black, yellow, black, yellow, black, red color pattern. In this species, the red color is in contact with the black, but this snake is very venomous. Usually five minutes after being bitten by it you are paralyzed, and an hour later you are dead.
