One reason why it's my mission in life to end use of the "red-on-yellow" rhyme for identifying coral snakes — an anerythristic Micrurus tener
Posted Mar 27, 2017, 1:38 AM UTC
7010
I feel like the rhyme is helpful though, especially since children really shouldn't mess with any snake they can't identify.
7
Better rhyme.
See the snake,
Leave the snake the fuck alone.
28
That's by far the better rhyme!
2
I agree. Adults can find and look at other identifiers but children don't have such skills. I'm not saying children should be playing with snakes unsupervised but this rhyme helped me out as a child when identifying my first king/banded snake in the Texas woods.
9
That's why kids need to be taught to respect snakes from a distance, not just to "not mess with snakes they can't identify." The point is that rhyme only holds somewhat true in the US, and even then, it's not all that accurate.
2
Never said I was alone with snakes as a child. I was out on a small, 8 member, herping expedition with adults that encouraged me after seeing the snake to say that rhyme and then investigate the animal first hand. Children need to be taught to respect and admire wild specimens from a distance however, nothing defeats fear of the animal like holding it and letting it move through your hands.
2
Wow that's gorgeous
3
Wow, definitely something you don't see every day.
3
I saw your post on Facebook, nice find.
3
A more thorough discussion of the subject is here:
http://thevenominterviews.com/2016/06/02/mythbusting-coral-snakes/