Eastern Coral Snake
Micrurus fulvius • Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Elapidae, Subfamily: Elapinae, Genus: Micrurus, Species: Micrurus fulvius
Southeastern United States, including coastal plains from southeastern North Carolina south through Florida, and west through southern Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and eastern Texas.
Look up Eastern Coral Snake in the Snake Encyclopedia →Family
Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Elapidae, Subfamily: Elapinae, Genus: Micrurus, Species: Micrurus fulvius
Conservation
Listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, though localized populations face threats from habitat loss, fragmentation, and road mortality.
Physical Description
Slender body featuring distinct ring pattern where wide black and red bands are separated by narrow yellow bands ('red touch yellow'). Smooth dorsal scales, round pupils, and a blunt head with a black snout extending past the eyes.
Size & Dimensions
Specimen length appears to be approximately 18 to 24 inches (45 to 60 cm). Typical adults range from 20 to 30 inches (50 to 76 cm), with a maximum recorded length of around 47 inches (121 cm).
Habitat
Upland pine and oak sandhills, hardwood hammocks, pine flatwoods, scrub habitats, and occasionally moist agricultural fields or residential yards. Often found under leaf litter, fallen logs, or buried in loose soil.
Diet & Feeding
Secretive, active search predator feeding primarily on other small snakes (such as earth snakes and crowned snakes) and small lizards (such as skinks).
Reproduction
Oviparous (egg-laying). Females lay a clutch of 3 to 7 elongated eggs in early summer, typically in damp soil or organic debris, which hatch in late summer or early autumn.
Look-alikes
Scarlet Kingsnake (Lampropeltis elapsoides) and Scarlet Snake (Cemophora coccinea), which exhibit similar red, yellow, and black banding, but feature red rings touching black rings ('red touch black') and have light-colored snouts.
Conservation Status
Listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, though localized populations face threats from habitat loss, fragmentation, and road mortality.
Cultural Significance
Famous for inspiring traditional rhymes ('red touch yellow, kill a fellow; red touch black, friend of Jack') used in North America to differentiate tricolor snakes. Serves an ecological role as a specialized predator of fossorial reptiles.
Notable Features
Smooth, highly iridescent scales and fossorial adaptations. When threatened, it may tuck its head beneath its body and curl its tail to draw attention away from vital organs.