Tag Archives: coral snake

Deadly Visitor

 

Click on photos to enlarge.

Darn!!! Paciano found this dead coral snake on the low outside wall that runs alongside the   steps up to the second story of my house. They are venomous and can cause respiratory failure and death, although a search of the internet yielded the following information: A single death has been reported due to a coral snake bite in the United States in the last 40 years (roughly, since coral snake antivenom became available). Before that time, the estimated case-fatality rate was 10%, and the cause of death was respiratory or cardiovascular failure.
Another source says: 
Unlike pit viper venom, coral snake venom is primarily a neurotoxin. There is little or no pain and swelling, and symptoms may not appear for hours. But once symptoms do appear, they progress rapidly: euphoria and drowsiness, nausea and vomiting, headache, difficulty in breathing and paralysis.”
I’m so glad the dogs didn’t find it first. It is very confusing, because they seem to be two different snakes joined at the tail. I took this photo yesterday, but need to take another look tomorrow to see if it is one snake or two.