Texas Coral Snake
Micrurus tener
Texas Coral Snake 2
VENOMOUS. The Texas Coral Snake is one of the two common venomous snake species at the Arboretum. This unmistakable snake is brilliantly colored with distinct, straight-edged bands of red, yellow, and black. The red bands have variable amounts of black speckles or spots. Despite their fearsome reputation, coral snakes are extremely shy. They prefer to hide under rotting logs and piles of dead leaves looking for their favorite prey: smaller snakes. They do not hunt any animals larger than themselves, and will not bite unless provoked. While coral snakes do have relatively small, fixed fangs near the back of their mouths, they are still capable of delivering a deadly bite (the do not have to "chew" or catch a finger - that's an unfortunate myth). Treat these snakes - and all others - with a healthy respect.
Sources and Credits
- (c) hancnaturalist, all rights reserved, uploaded by hancnaturalist
- Adapted by hancnaturalist from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micrurus_tener
More Info
iNat Map
| Pattern | bands, stripes |
|---|---|
| Color | black, red, yellow |
| Texture | smooth |
