![]() ![]() This should be taken into account when looking for a pet snake. Because they are primarily awake during the night, they should be handled with care and for short periods of time, typically no more than seven minutes at a time. This is good to know for potential pet owners, if your pet milk snake bites, with training and becoming more familiar, the snake will stop. Juvenile milk snakes have more energy than the adult and will bite more often as well. That being said, milk snakes can be easily scared and bite an owner, especially a young milk snake. ![]() They are friendly to humans and aid in keeping rodent populations in check. There have not been any recorded human deaths from a milk snake bite. The coral snake has short fangs that are always erect or visible. This is another identifiable between itself and the coral snake. The milk snake does not have any fangs nor identifiable teeth. Can I Still Get Injured by a Milk Snake’s Fangs or Teeth? The eastern milk snake purposely has similar colors and shape as the copperhead to fool potential predators. The eastern milk snake is commonly mistaken for the copperhead snake, a venomous snake found in regions close by the eastern milk snake. This subspecies is also common and behaviors like other milk snakes. ![]() The coral snakes bands also go all the way around its body instead of stopping at the belly.Īnother common subspecies, the eastern milk snake typically has a gray to tan background color with black-bordered brown blotches on the dorsum. The best way to identify a coral snake from a milk snake is by its head, which is blunt and black to behind the eyes. Other coral snakes globally may have other colored bands or no bands at all. However, as soon as you leave the US, you will find multiple highly venomous snakes that also have the red on black surrounded by a yellow color pattern. ![]() This rhyme works great in the continental United States and has helped me identify snakes both owned by friends as well as in the wild. You can find this mnemonic rhyme along with a larger explanation here. There exists a common mnemonic or memory device to help people remember and recognize the difference in colors between a milk snake and the coral snake that works almost one hundred percent of the time, “Red on yellow kills a fellow. Because of its similarity to the coral snake, they are accidentally killed by those who confuse the two snakes. This is slightly different from the coral snake. This snake has patterns of red, black, yellow, and sometimes white bands with red and black bands touching. The scarlet kingsnake, another non-venomous snake, is often confused with the milk snake and for good reason, the milk snake is a species of the kingsnake. There exist twenty-four subspecies of the milk snake, with subtle differences between each one. This tactic is known as Batesian mimicry and works well in scaring off potential predators. Milk snakes purposely have color patterns similar to the coral snake to disguise itself as a dangerous snake. The milk snake, although similar in appearance to the poisonous copperhead snake, coral snake, is not venomous and rather quite harmless. It is crucial to know if the bite comes from a milk snake or a similar looking, yet venomous, snake. The coral snake, which can be mistaken for the milk snake is quite venomous and bites from these snakes should be treated with antivenom as soon as possible. There is other information that I found quite interesting that I want to share. Milk snakes, like other nonvenomous snakes, will typically bite a person for one of three reasons: if they are hungry and mistake your hand for food, they feel threatened, or they are shedding. Most of the bites from a milk snake aren’t enough to even break the skin. If someone was to be bitten, they should clean and sanitize the wounded area but no medical attention is required. The easy-going milk snake will inflict little to no injury and is not venomous if it bites you. What happens when a milk snake bites you? However, even these gentle snakes can be snappy so it is good to know what to do in case you are bitten. Milk snakes are a very common species of kingsnakes and have one of the largest ranges of any species of snake in the world ranging from Canada to Ecuador. Milk snakes are usually docile and are usually pets but they can bite you if the circumstances are correct. ![]()
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