Well, the saying is very accurate for Coral Snake's indigenous to the U.S.,..providing the sequence is remembered correctly, and the Coral Snake isn't aberrantly patterned which on rare occasions can sometimes happen.

I think what Chris meant in regards to his statement, is that if you really don't have enough experience to look at one in an instant and tell the difference between a Coral, and a milksnake, or Scarlet, etc..., you really shouldn't mess with any of them,....especially if the rhyme gets "botched" for whatever reason in the excitement, which I can see sometimes happening,....I've also heard people recite it incorrectly on occasion myself. I basically agree with that as well.

However, the so-called "rhyme" does NOT apply for many of the Latin/South American Coral Snake species, such as the one pictured below.


best regards, ~Doug

-----
"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

[ Hide Replies ]

• What was it? - Amadeus, Fri May 23 13:57:01 2008
• RE: What was it? - Trolligans, Fri May 23 14:32:59 2008
• RE: What was it? - DMong, Fri May 23 14:36:23 2008
• and the Scarlet Snake - DMong, Fri May 23 14:49:41 2008
• RE: What was it? - Amadeus, Fri May 23 17:17:57 2008
• RE: What was it? - CrimsonKing, Fri May 23 17:35:45 2008
• CrimsonKing's right! - DMong, Fri May 23 17:58:51 2008
• RE: CrimsonKing's right! - Amadeus, Fri May 23 18:28:57 2008
• RE: What was it? - chrish, Mon May 26 02:26:06 2008
• RE: What was it? - Amadeus, Mon May 26 07:37:37 2008
• RE: What was it? - DMong, Tue May 27 11:01:22 2008
• oops!,....here's the pic! - DMong, Tue May 27 11:05:37 2008
• RE: What was it? - CrimsonKing, Fri May 23 21:25:30 2008
• Another snake to consider... - chrish, Mon May 26 02:19:41 2008
• RE: What was it? - BillyBoy, Wed May 28 12:18:58 2008
• RE: What was it? - amadeus, Wed May 28 18:15:51 2008
• RE: What was it? - Amadeus, Thu May 29 18:18:50 2008