"Red And Yellow Kill A Fellow"

This is one of the old jingles which help identify Coral Snakes. Others are: "If it has a black nose and red touches yellow, better beware, its a dangerous fellow," and "Red on yellow, deadly fellow. Red on black, friend of Jack." "If red is next to yellow, as on a traffic light, you stop." These jingles refer to the fact the red and yellow bands on most Coral Snakes touch each other, and this is one way to distinguish them from their mimics in the same area. Another rule is that, in Florida, if it has a black snout, it is a Coral Snake. These sayings are true regarding most Coral Snakes in the U.S. In Central and South America, however, there are many species of Coral Snakes, all marked differently. The very venomous Central American Bicolor Coral Snake, Micrurus mipartitus, has only black and orange bands. Even in Florida, some very rare specimens of the Eastern Coral Snake are all black.

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