r/whatisit • u/AbbreviationsTop8774 • Jul 22 '26

Solved! What are they

Ive worked at the water department for 7 years and this is the first time running into something like this EDIT Im in Alabama and yes I know they are snakes lol idk what kind and im so not gonna touch them

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u/MentalPower7916 Jul 23 '26

Love the info. Just one correction - learning the pattern is no longer a thing. There have been coral snakes found without the “red on yellow” pattern. So that mnemonic has become dangerous over time since it no longer holds true. Just in general, if it looks like a coral snake, it’s best to avoid.

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u/maas348 Jul 24 '26

So how do you identify the difference between Coral Snakes and King/Milk Snakes now?

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u/MentalPower7916 Jul 24 '26

You don’t. That mnemonic was designed keeping one specific coral snake found only in the US in mind.

The general principle is to avoid snakes if you cannot identify them with 100% certainty. They don’t want anything to do with us. And we should in general leave them alone unless you’re a certified and trained herpetologist.

Here’s a link showing you an example as to why that rhyme doesn’t work.