Living in the middle of the Florida Peninsula, this is mating season for the Eastern Coral Snake.

I killed one on my back patio maybe five or six years ago, posted a photo here.

I'm usually a "live and let live" guy with snakes, but the coral snake's venom is highly toxic.

I was just outside in front of my house and saw another, traveling from the street to the neighbor's front yard. I grabbed a shovel from my garage but by the time I got back outside, the snake had disappeared. If it's a female and leaves eggs, they will hatch around August / September.

I've seen very, very few coral snakes in the wild, but I'm purty skeered of 'em. They are so rare, that, IMO, people forget about them and don't watch or know how to identify one.

Fortunately, they are very shy, so there are (apparently) few people who suffer a bite. And they don't bite like other venomous devils, rather they, I'm told, sorta chew on you, like the skin between your fingers and toes.

Now Water Moccasins are aggressive and will actually come at a human to bite. I am really careful to see and avoid them.

I don't like to kill any creature, but a Cotton Mouth is an exception for me.

Bob

quote:

I've seen very, very few coral snakes in the wild

Other than at a zoo, I have only seen two venomous snakes in my whole life. They were both Eastern Coral Snakes, one on my back patio five or six years ago, and the one today in my neighbor's front yard.

They normally run from people, but I do not want one of these around me, so I will decapitate it if I get the chance.

Living here in swampy central Florida I have seen a few coral snakes. The last one I saw was in a storage shed on a shelf. I only noticed him as I reached past him for a jar. I corralled him into a box and moved him out to a wilderness preserve area off of the Florida Trail.

Cotton mouths are shown no quarter.

Rattler season here in AZ.
At least they're polite enough to warn you.

Walk the dog in the mornings so I put 2 shot shells up front in a 38 snubby.

I don’t care how much you Southern boys make fun of us living up North in the wintery cold. But I don’t have to worry about all the creepy crawlies you guys do. I guess it’s a trade off. I know there’s supposed to be Massasauga Rattler around but luckily I’ve never seen or heard of one around here.

In thirty years, we’ve only had 2 coral snakes try to muscle in on our territory. However, up until recently, our yard was the favorite gathering place for the copperheads; 4 KIA in one week.
Haven’t seen one since I spotted a large king snake patrolling the property. Hope he knows that he is mighty welcome to stop by anytime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=314N7xIeRR8

Cottonmouths don't typically chase people. Undeserved rep for being aggressive.

Regarding the coral snake. I wouldn't want it in my yard, but I'd probably just move it or call someone who'd move it for me. I don't see any reason to kill stuff unless I'm going to eat it.

I'll make an exception for bugs. Mosquitos, ticks, roaches, etc. They get squished.

edited to add: In my experience it's the water snakes that seem to want to chase people. They get mis-identified as cottonmouths a lot. We had one chase our boat propeller..

Corals like to hang out in pine straw for some reason. I have encountered every damn kind of venomous snake in Florida on my property. Their secret to survival is to not show themselves anywhere near our house. The black racers and rat snakes are welcome, the venomous ones are dispatched with whatever is at hand. We have had a dog bit by a rattler and a stray cat bit by a cottonmouth, the dog survived after $3500 in vet bills and the cat died a slow painful death. The rule here is to never pick anything up off the ground unless you kick it first. And watch low hanging branches over water because the cottonmouths like hanging out there for prey.

Our place is lousy with rattlesnakes. I kill 6-7 a year around the house and outbuildings. I offer them no quarter. At one point all 4 of our dogs had been bitten by rattlers, two dogs within a week of each other. Rattlers are one big reason I have a S&W 442 for my CCW. The .38 snake loads are much more effective than 9mm ones are.

Breeding season for them hereabouts generally starts around late July, concomitant with our monsoon season.