The Texas Coral Snake Just Wants to Be Left Alone

Each month, we get to know one of the state’s many wonderful and quirky critters. Latin name: Micrurus tenerSize: Usually less than three feet longTexas habitat: The state’s southeastern half“Red touch yellow, kill a fellow. Red touch black, friend of Jack.” This mnemonic aims to distinguish the coral snake, one of fifteen venomous snakes in Texas, from harmless lookalikes. But use this mostly accurate phrase at your own risk, warns Spencer Greene, director of toxicology at HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood. Greene once treated a Boy Scout whose troop leader thought the saying went “Red touch yellow, friend of a fellow.” Of all venomous Texas critters, Greene says, only the black widow spider boasts a more agonizing bite. Now I’m terrified.You shouldn’t be! “This is a shy snake,”…

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