King or Coral Snake?

[kevinweitzel75]

Ok, does anybody know the saying on how to tell the difference between a coral and a king snake? And how many different sayings are there? I can never remember.

[kevinweitzel75]

And I thought that it was yellow, black and red. Today I saw a white, black and red colored snake.

[azbackpackr]

Red on yellow, kill a fellow; red on black, venom lack.

No one ever sees coral snakes, anyway, not even biologists. And it is almost impossible to get bitten by one unless you are playing with it. From what I understand, it is even hard for it to bite you if it wants to.

[azbackpackr]

The king snake's "yellow" can be white. You probably saw a king snake.

[kevinweitzel75]

So coral snakes don't live in AZ?

[kevinweitzel75]

I ran into a lady on one of my hikes a few weeks ago that said she saw one that was "pink in color. You know, like the color of coral!" I told her that they were black, red and yellow. She got very angry and proceeded to tell me that all coral snakes are pink. Thats why they are called coral snakes. I just walked away instead or arguing with her.

[azbackpackr]

There is no figuring out some people...you did the right thing and sometime she will find out she is wrong and will feel bad, hopefully. We DO want her to feel bad because she will not be able to apologize to you...

Yes, Arizona has coral snakes. From what I hear, they are hard for a biologist to study because they are so seldom seen. They are very small, also, whereas a king snake you would commonly see is more of a normal 2 to 3 foot size, usually.

I would suggest going to the library, see if you can get (you may have to get the librarian to ILL it) the Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. It's a Peterson Field Guide, by Robert C. Stebbins. I love this book! Right now you can get it for under $10, used, on Amazon. I love Peterson's guides--I also have the Field Guide to Western Birds and also the Field Guide to Southwestern and Texas Wildflowers. All very good books.

[Al_HikesAZ]

So coral snakes don't live in AZ?

Micruroides euryxanthus - lowland regions from Arizona to Sinaloa. Mostly around Tucson, but really throughout the Sonoran desert. I learned Red on Black OK Jack.

[tkknc]

Here is a pic of a young Arizona Coral Snake.

http://www.hikearizona.com/dex2/igaller ... hp?id=1616

[imike]

i ran into a coral snake on the trail below Maiden Pools (Ventana Canyon)... midday! only one I've ever seen... red 'n yellow...kill a fellow It was a small, pretty, non-assuming little guy... not sure what he was out doing...

[sirena]

Interestingly, I just saw my first coral snake yesterday on the Phoneline Trail in Sabino right around sunset. Very thin with a small head-moved off the trail after I spotted him.

[azbackpackr]

Here is a pic of a young Arizona Coral Snake.

Cool! (Are you another one of those lurkers? )

Also, Sirena, you actually saw one! Neat!

Interestingly also, imike, Ventana below the pools is where my pal got bitten by the Mojave Rattler years ago.

[kevinweitzel75]

Also ran into a black rattlesnake at the Tonto creek. Timber or Mohave?

[azbackpackr]

Timber would be my best guess. I saw one of those by the Black River a couple summers ago--my first sighting of a timber.

[rdavisiii]

I saw this coral snake on the Gateway loop in the McDowell preserve.

[te_wa]

coral snake's coloration goes all the way around the body. the stomack of kingsnakes however, is where their stripes stop.
black rattlesnake in arizona is most likely an Arizona Black rattlesnake.

[Dschur]

Red next to yellow dangerous fellow red next to black friend of Jack.... We saw one when picked up a rock near the 260 trailhead..... little fellow.....

[kevinweitzel75]

Cool pics! The one I saw was a king. I wish I would have had my camera. I left it at home and only had my cell. The pic of the rattler didn't come out but the king snake did. Going to try to post the pics of our trip.

[azbackpackr]

I used to have a king snake for a pet when I was about 12...

[tahosa]

Haven't seen a coral snake in about 40 years, and the last one was in florida.
Here is a link about the snakes of AZ.