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Coral Snake

Common Name Coral Snake

Scientific Name Micrurus nigrocinctus

Species Reptiles

Family/Group Snakes

Comments:
4 comments

Comments

  • wrote on Jan 17, 2019:

    dumb

  • Jay wrote on Mar 21, 2018:

    I just returned from Nicaragua, and on our very last day in Iguana, a 2-foot "true" coral snake presented itself on our pool deck! I took a few pictures and a video if you are interested in posting it. We had no idea what it was at the time, but we were pretty sure it was deadly. I foolishly tried to pull it away from our open-air chalet as it was about to go into the kitchen, but upon the touch, it quickly slithered into a small hole between the deck and stairs. We never saw it again. It wasn't aggressive at all and quite scared actually. It was a beautiful way to end our trip! :)

  • Dave D. wrote on Dec 6, 2016:

    coral snakes are similar to crates found in Asia where they have very small fangs that when striking they must catch a flap of skin, rather than vipers whose fangs will readily piece skin through loose clothing. That being said coral snakes are not snakes to play with as they can and will bite and their venom is neurotoxic and can be lethal. Though much less of a problem than the Far de Lance in C.A. rain forests.

  • Thomas Reuschenbach wrote on Aug 6, 2014:

    My daughter is currently travelling through Nicaragua and reported a face-to-face encounter to a coral snake. She had a guide with her. For god's sake. Now I'm happy, she could tell it to me, because no snake bite did happen. The picture of the snake is really tremendous. It looks interesting

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Description

Coral snakes are among the most famous snakes in Nicaragua. They are not abundant and they are not easy to find, but they are one of the few truly venomous snake species living in the country. With its strong venom this snake is capable of killing a human adult, but fortunately this rarely happens. Coral snakes are not aggressive and generally only bite when threatened.

Another similar species is the False Coral Snake, which is often confused with this species. False Coral Snakes, however, are not venomous. The two species can be differentiated by observing the coloration: 'true' coral snakes have yellow bands next to the red bands, whereas 'false' corals show a black band next to the yellow one.

Habitat

Coral snakes can be found throughout the country, but there are few places where they can be easily seen. They feed on other reptiles so natural reserves where smaller reptiles abound offer better chances.

Further Reading

en.wikipedia.org/wik...

Nicaragua Animal Guide