TL;DR: A coral snake was safely relocated from a yard to a wilderness area and looked really cool as it buried itself in the grass.
Late at night, this beautiful Eastern coral snake appeared on our driveway while I was taking the dogs out. Contrary to what many believe, these snakes, while certainly packing a potent venom, pose only a minimal threat to humans or pets (and zero threat if simply left alone). We are a far bigger threat to coral snakes than they are to us. They are shy and reclusive, spending most of their time hiding under leaves or logs, and they have no desire to encounter humans, let alone bite them. Any defensive use of a snake's venom on anything they can't eat is a significant waste of energy and they seek to avoid it.
I wasn't too worried about this snake biting a person or pet, but I was concerned it faced long odds of surviving the local people, pets, and cars. Sadly, snakes face mindless persecution by ignorant people, but coral snakes are often slaughtered in the false belief they pose a serious, immediate threat to people and pets. In fact, nearly all venomous snake bites in the US are actually due to people trying to kill, catch, or handle them, and extremely few result in death.
That being said, I've been a "snake person" my whole life, so took the opportunity to safely capture it (without any contact, I leave actual handling of "hot" species to the experts). It was immediately taken to an appropriate, protected natural area where coral snakes live, far from any houses, and released. Hopefully it will live a long, natural, human-free life and go on to make lots of baby coral snakes for future generations to enjoy.
The figure-8 method he used to hide upon release was really cool, no?
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Coral Snakes: They Aren't Monsters!
Despite the potent venom used to immobilize the snakes, lizards, and small animals that they feed on, coral snakes are fairly small snakes. They are preyed upon by many creatures, ranging from birds of prey to mammals to other snakes. Like most snakes, their first and best line of defense is to simply avoid encounters with potential predators (like humans) completely. True to form, as soon as this beautiful guy saw us, it turned around and fled into the lawn where it could burrow down under the grass runners to hide.
When they are seen, their (usually) bright coloration serves as a danger warning to predators. Interestingly, it has also been postulated that their bold, banded pattern may actually serve as an effective camouflage against their main predators when they are on the ground at night, moving through the shadows of pine tree branches in the moonlight. Many animals don't see in full color, which would only enhance the effectiveness of the pattern.
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SAVE A LIFE... FORGET THAT STUPID "RED ON BLACK" RHYME EVER EXISTED!!!!
One final point. FORGET THAT STUPID RHYME. PLEASE. There's a video out there of a group of kids playing with, and eventually getting bitten by, a coral snake... specifically because they botched that damned rhyme (they mistake it right there in the video). They thought they had a harmless scarlet kingsnake. They were wrong, and a great deal of misery ensued.
A far safer and nearly foolproof method to ID a coral snake in the USA is to remember either "if traffic light colors touch, STOP!" or "ketchup and mustard don't mix". Now, there ARE some aberrantly colored and oddly patterned coral snakes out there, so this can fail too... but it's *almost* always true. Don't use any of these sayings outside of the United States, though, as in central or South America there are many dozens of coral snakes species with different color combinations.
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Want to learn how to ID your local snakes?
If anyone wants to overcome their fears and learn how to identify snakes (even those from other states), a very good, non-judgemental group on Facebook is the "What kind of snake is this? Florida" group. I would encourage you all to join with your questions. Stick around for a week and I guarantee you will learn something.
[ Ссылка ]?
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DISCLAIMER: While there is never a need to kill a snake, I do not advocate trying to capture a venomous snake unless you know how to do so safely. Only trained and licensed handlers should ever attempt to actually handle a venomous snake. Though snakes aren't aggressive, there is always a risk of suffering a defensive bite leading to serious medical consequences if you get too close to any venomous snake. Low-risk techniques for capturing snakes for relocation are posted in the above-referenced Facebook group. A gentle squirt from a hose while standing at a safe distance can also safely encourage a snake to move along, if necessary.
(In short... if you get hurt trying to handle, catch, or kill a venomous snake, don't blame me. I told you not to do it.)
