Texas Snakes

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The South of the United States is the home of many kinds of snakes and lizards that pose very little threat to human health. The majority of Texas snakes are nonvenomous or very slightly venomous for their prey, but in case they bit a human there would basically be no problems. There are two exceptions: pit vipers and coral snakes with their subspecies. In recent years the number of bites has decreased not only in Texas but everywhere in the United States because of a higher awareness of the fact that snakes are sharing their habitat with us. Thus, people need to understand that a snake will only bite when it feels threatened and the resulting envenomation is the result of a pure defensive act.

Pit vipers are the most numerous poisonous Texas snakes: they include sub-groups like the rattlesnakes, copperheads and cottonmouths. Each group has distinct features that make the specimens easy to recognize and thus to avoid. Copperheads are the Texas snakes recognized by the red-brownish cross bands on their bodies, while cottonmouths are green, olive or solid black. When threatened the latter will open their mouths and hiss in a menacing way. The white tissue inside of their mouths is the features that gave the name of cottonmouth to the species.

Last but not least, the rattlesnake is the noisiest of Texas snakes; as the name suggests, this snake will rattle its tail as a warning to potential aggressors to stay away. If you mind your business and avoid them, rattlesnakes will never get closer to you in order to attack. The only pit viper that sends no warning message is the copperhead that attacks whenever it senses danger. This is the reason why from all the Texas snakes, the copperhead remains the trickiest and most unpredictable. Then, we should mention coral snakes as one other group living in the arid parts of the American south.

Corals belong to the same snake family as the Asian and African cobra; though most venomous snakes have elliptical pupils, corals distinguish themselves by their roundness. These Texas snakes are slender usually less than two feet long with a pattern consisting of black, yellow and red rings alternated. Though there are other harmless Texas snakes with similar coloring, they have almost never red in the marking. If you are traveling in the south Texas woodlands, on coastal plains or in canyons, you can often come across.

Venomous Snakes of Texas - Texas Parks and Wildlife [Official]