Black on yellow kill a fellow? I always forget how that goes. . . Jun 20, 2008

Pretty sure this is the Sonoran Mountain Kingsnake(non-venomous); they supposedly have this distinctive white snout. The Coral snake seems to have a much more distinct striping pattern. Jun 20, 2008

That's a beauty!

It's a mountain king. Arizona Coral Snakes are a pretty rare species, and you'd be really lucky to see one when out, and about.

FYI: I've heard that although the Arizona Coral Snakes venmon is twice as powerful as a rattlesnake, their venom is much less dangerous due to their very small size; small mouth, small fangs. Jun 20, 2008

Check out the following-
mountainproject.com/v/tony_…

If the red touches the yellow it's a coral snake. The black between means it is not. Jun 20, 2008

The red touches yellow rhyme doesn't really apply much in the west; We have non-venomous snakes with that coloration pattern. Jun 20, 2008

Not to call you out Andrew as we're buddy I just want to make sure people have correct information when dealing with snakes that can be this deadly. That is an AZ Mountain King in the picture and a very cool siting! I call those 40 hour snakes, meaning if you could out looking it's going to take you 40 hours to find one compared to maybe 1 hour when it comes to a diamondback.

As for the Coral, it's a fixed front fang snake in the same family (Elapidae) as the cobra, sea snakes, adder and so on. From what I know the only deaths that have ever come from a Micruroides are the larger Easterns as the ones we would see in the SW are very small, normally under a foot and a half.

Whit that said, these snakes are VERY rare to see in the wild, very secretive and normally only found at night. I have spend 1,000s of hours on the roads, hiking and looking for snakes and have never seen one. I have seen Banded sand snakes, Gilas, and a huge list of other uncommon reptiles but never a Coral. SO while you would have to really try to get bitten I also wouldn't play with them.

PS They also make a very odd popping sound though I've never heard it. Aug 15, 2008

Really Gigette?
I thought "Red to Yellow, Kill a Fellow.
Red to Black, Venom Lack" was rock solid. Sep 8, 2008

"when red touches yellow, he's a dangerous fellow, when red touches black, he won't attack" Oct 6, 2008

Kind of funny how everyone learned it differently. For me it was: "Red on yellow, kills a fellow, red on black is a friend of jack." Oct 10, 2008

I like "red on black, you're OK Jack" better than "red touches black, he won't attack." King snakes will still bite you and it will hurt, but they are not venomous. Nov 9, 2010