There seems to be an increase in coral
snake sightings - one near the pool this
week & 2 in my yard.

Are there any snake experts around?
Is this some effect from having a wet june?

Have you taught your children not to pick
up snakes?

As all snakes are beneficial, I'd rather
capture & release coral snakes I find
rather than kill them. Does anyone know
of someone who offers a relocation
service?

-keith

A little snake information......

I'm not a CC resident, but I live in the neighborhood and a friend informed me of your post.

Contact Tim Cole at Austin Reptile Rescue http://www.austinreptileservice.net/aboutus.html). Tim does reptile relocation and gives reptile-related programs in the Central Texas area.

As you suspected, the Coral snakes (genus Micrurus) are increasingly active due to all the recent rainfall. Coral snakes are primarily fossorial reptiles and spend the majority of their lives underground, living on small snakes, for the most part. Any increase in rainfall will bring them to the surface, particularly at night. They are timid and unaggressive snakes and, if left alone, pose no danger to humans. However, I don't blame you for being concerned if they're in your yard, especially if you have kids or pets, and I commend your objectivity in regard to relocating them as opposed to killing them.

With the increase in temperatures and the decrease in rainfall, I'd be surprised if you see any more Corals, but if you do, you can email me if you'd like. If I'm home (I live in Legend Oaks) and not busy, I'll come down and remove them for you. I believe that Tim charges for his service, and he lives in North Austin. He is, however, interested in Coral snakes and may come pick one up without charge.

Hope this helps.....you can email me if you have any other reptile related questions.

Mark Brown
lachesis@austin.rr.com

Capture release

I get them all the time. I just capture them with either a net or a box & put it into a cardboard box and walk a block to the forest and let it go. I try to make sure I GET AWAY FROM THE ROAD so it dosent get killed by running the wrong way into the street. Other times I have just let it do it's thing & eat the mice or rats.

Hope this helps

Careful!

I'm the last person to try and tell anyone what to do, but I certainly wouldn't recommend attempting to capture venomous snakes yourself, unless you have extensive experience handling them.

The great majority of venomous snakebites in the U.S. are what are termed ''illegitimate'' bites.....bites received while handling or attempting to capture a venomous snake, as opposed to an accidental bite, received while hiking or fishing or some other activity. As you might suspect, alcohol plays a role in a large number of illegitimate bites. The vast majority of these bites can be avoided by simply leaving the snakes alone.

If you aren't an expert with the equipment and experience to safely handle venomous reptiles, one wrong move can easily wind you up with an extremely expensive hospital visit, or worse.

Mark