Texas Snakes
The South of the United States is the home of many kinds of snakes and lizards that pose very little threat to human health. A high percent of Texas snakes are non-poisonous or very slightly venomous for their hunt, but in case they bit a human there would basically be no problems. Two exceptions need specification: pit vipers and coral snakes with their subspecies. Over the last few years the number of bites has decreased not only in Texas but everywhere in the United States because of a superior awareness of the fact that snakes have the same rights to living in the habitat as we do. Thus, people have to understand that a snake will only bite when it senses danger and the resulting envenomation is the result of a pure defensive act.
The most widely spread Texas snakes are pit vipers: they include sub-groups like the cottonmouths, rattlesnakes and copperheads. Each group shows peculiarities that render the specimens easy to identify and thus to avoid. One will recognize Texas snakes like the copperheads by the red-brown cross lines in their body patterns, while cottonmouths will stand out by the shades of green, solid black and olive. When threatened the latter will open their mouths and hiss in a menacing way. The name of this species comes from the white tissue in their mouth that gets visible when they threaten possible aggressors.
Last but not least, the rattlesnake is the noisiest of Texas snakes; as the name points out, 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 shows threatening signal before biting is the copperhead that attacks whenever it senses danger. Hence from all the Texas snakes, the copperhead gets its reputation as the trickiest and most unpredictable. Then, Corals are other Texas snakes asking for one’s attention because of the potential harm they can inflict when upset.
Corals are part of the same group as African and Asian cobras, and though the majority of poisonous snakes have elliptical pupils, corals stand out by their roundness. These Texas snakes are thin and small usually less than two feet long with an intricate back design that includes a combination of yellow, red and black rings. Though there are other harmless Texas snakes with similar color patterns, they have almost never red in the marking. In case you are traveling in the south Texas woodlands, on coastal plains or in canyons, you can often come across.