Why you should listen to your grade school teachers v. red and yellow, kill a fellow

[kamekaze]

So I take my kiddos over to my parents house this afternoon and after a while we head out to the backyard so my oldest can play on her playscape. As she's heading over to it I notice this little guy in the grass



At first look I think that it's just a harmless milk snake but still think its a good idea to keep my 2 year old away so I tell her to go back to the porch and I start trying to pick it up thinking it's harmless





After playing with it for a while I figure I should let it go, so I sat him next to an opening under the fence and off it went. It wasn't till afterward that I remembered the old anecdote "red and yellow, kill a fellow" and looked back at the pictures I thought to myself how much that would have sucked if I got bit and just went on my day like normal thinking it was just a milk snake... Moral of the story is you should remember lessens from grade school and leaving snakes alone is probably a good idea.

[J Eddington]

There are alot of those "rhymes" I could never keep them straight!
"Red on yellow, kill a fellow; red on black, friend of Jack", "Red on Yellow Kills a Fellow, Red on Black, Venom Lack," and "Red on yellow kills a fellow; red on black, pat it on the back" or "if red touches yellow, you're a dead fellow (for Coral Snakes); if red touches black, you're okay, Jack (for similar looking Milk Snakes)"

[picman]

I just skimmed an article about when current coral snake anti-venom stocks go out of date in 2010, there is nothing to replace them. There are so few bits, it has not been profitable to manufacture.
The expiration dates have been extended twice - gland you didn't get to prove that the product was still good.

[Steaphany]

Didn't you try shooting a nice Coral Snake macro before having those "Steve Irwin" style snaps taken ?

By the way, where was this snake found ?

I never see colorful snakes up around here and the few wild snakes that are found rarely are in a photographically appropriate setting.

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

Really as a service to the neighbourhood I would try to track that dude/dudet down and take it out since a lot of people may just do what you did but not come out so happy, or at least let people know in the area that a coral snake was seen in the area.

[CaptainTom]

That sure looks like an Eastern Coral Snake and related to some other bad actors.

[kamekaze]

Originally Posted by Steaphany

Didn't you try shooting a nice Coral Snake macro before having those "Steve Irwin" style snaps taken ?

By the way, where was this snake found ?

I never see colorful snakes up around here and the few wild snakes that are found rarely are in a photographically appropriate setting.

It was way too fast to be able to get a good macro shot. I was found in austin.

[Steaphany]

All kidding aside, I do hope no child stumbles across that Snake or it's relatives and tries what they saw Steve Irwin do on TV.

[studiocygnet]

We've got lots of coral snakes around here out west of Austin by the lakes. They seem to like water features, and hang around people's lawns that have fountains and ponds. My neighbor across the street likes to take a shotgun to them when they're in his yard. I think that's a bit overkill.

[kamekaze]

Originally Posted by Steaphany

All kidding aside, I do hope no child stumbles across that Snake or it's relatives and tries what they saw Steve Irwin do on TV.

I had no croc hunter delusions when I was messing with that bad boy (though I did sneak in a "she's a beaut!"), I just like snakes. Had I been thinking I might have whacked it with a golf club, but I thought it was harmless at the time and I've never been a fan of killing things anyways. If killing something because of it potetial danger is right then why don't we put down anybody that has more than 1 DUI?

[Concisus Cognatus]

Phewww! You are blessed young man. Perhaps it was your day to play the lotto.

[kamekaze]

Originally Posted by Concisus Cognatus

Phewww! You are blessed young man. Perhaps it was your day to play the lotto.

With what luck? I don't think I've got any more left after that

[ttusa]

OMG! Glad you weren't bitten!

[Carl Stone]

Originally Posted by studiocygnet

We've got lots of coral snakes around here out west of Austin by the lakes. They seem to like water features, and hang around people's lawns that have fountains and ponds. My neighbor across the street likes to take a shotgun to them when they're in his yard. I think that's a bit overkill.

Overkill? Hmmmmmm, I don't recall ever seeing a snake that was "too dead".

[donlfaulkner]

Originally Posted by kamekaze

... If killing something because of it potetial danger is right then why don't we put down anybody that has more than 1 DUI?

Now that is something to think about