Bad Bites 02 - Coral Snakes
Like 4 Dislike 0 Published on 24 Aug 2013
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First of I extend my gratitude to reptile expert Jack Facente for his participation in this program. His generous help, knowledge and wisdom made it possible to shine a light into the life of these reclusive yet wonderful animals.
Coral snakes are extremely venomous, yet very secretive snakes, belonging to the family of elapids, which includes cobras, mambas and kraits. They are most notable for their red, yellow to white, and black colored banding. Coral snakes are native to North America such as the eastern or common coral snake, the Texas coral snake and the Arizona coral snake, found in the southern and western United States. Coral snakes can be found in other parts of the world which can have distinctly different patterns. Most species of coral snake are small in size. The North American species average around 3 feet (91 cm) in length, but specimens of up to 5 feet (150 cm) or slightly larger have been reported. Aquatic species have flattened tails acting as a fin, aiding in swimming. Coral snakes vary widely in their behavior, but most are very elusive, fossorial snakes which spend the vast majority of their time buried beneath the ground or in the leaf litter of a rainforest floor, only coming to the surface while raining or during breeding season.
Like all elapid snakes, coral snakes use a pair of small fangs fixed in the front of their top jaw to deliver their venom. They feed on smaller snakes, frogs, lizards, nestling birds and young rodents. Coral snakes have a tendency to hold on to a victim when biting, unlike vipers which have retractable fangs and tend to prefer to strike and let go immediately. Coral snakes are not aggressive or prone to biting however, and account for less than one percent of the number of snake bites each year in the United States. Coral Snakes were filmed by Heiko Kiera aka Ojatro in Florida in 2013.