Venomous Snakes of Texas

[music] YOU KNOW THE WORD SNAKE STRIKES FEAR IN THE HEARTS OF MANY PEOPLE EVEN THOUGH 85% OF THE SNAKES IN TEXAS ARE NOT VENOMOUS. OF COURSE WE GET THE MOST QUESTIONS ABOUT THE VENOMOUS SNAKES. [snake rattle] TEXAS HAS 2 TYPES OF VENOMOUS SNAKES. FIRST ARE THE VIPERS. PIT VIPERS HAVE HEAT-SENSING SPOTS ON THE SIDES OF THEIR HEADS THAT HELP THEM LOCATE THEIR PREY EVEN IN THE DARK. HERE'S A WELL-KNOWN VIPER, THE RATTLESNAKE. IT HAS A TRIANGULAR-SHAPED HEAD, CAT-LIKE EYES AND A RATTLE AT THE END OF ITS TAIL. IF YOU HEAR A RATTLE, STOP, LOCATE THE SNAKE, THEN SLOWLY BACK AWAY. ANOTHER PIT VIPER IS THE COPPERHEAD. COPPERHEADS ARE COLORED TO BLEND IN WITH LEAVES ON THE GROUND. THEIR VENOM IS ONLY ABOUT HALF THE STRENGTH OF RATTLESNAKE VENOM. THIS PIT VIPER IS THE COTTON- MOUTH OR WATER MOCCASIN, USUALLY FOUND NEAR WATER. THE COTTONMOUTH IS DARK, STUBBY AND MUSCULAR. IT SWIMS SLOWLY, OFTEN WITH ITS HEAD OUT OF THE WATER WHILE OTHER WATER SNAKES QUICKLY WIGGLE ACROSS THE WATER. BESIDES THE VIPERS, THE OTHER VENOMOUS SNAKE WE HAVE IS RELATED TO THE COBRA. IT'S THE CORAL SNAKE. THE SHY CORAL SNAKE HAS BRIGHT BANDS OF RED NEXT TO YELLOW. THE RHYME, "RED AND YELLOW, KILL A FELLOW" WILL HELP YOU DISTINGUISH THE CORAL SNAKE FROM HARMLESS LOOK-ALIKES. THE CORAL SNAKE'S VENOM IS THE MOST POTENT OF ALL TEXAS SNAKES BUT BITES ARE EXTREMELY RARE. WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOU SEE A SNAKE? LEAVE IT ALONE. DON'T PLAY WITH LIVE OR DEAD SNAKES. WATCH WHEN YOU STEP OVER PILES OF BRUSH OR ROCKS AND LOOK BEFORE YOU PUT YOUR HAND ON A ROCKY LEDGE. SEEMS LIKE PEOPLE EITHER LOVE 'EM OR HATE 'EM BUT EITHER WAY, WE NEED SNAKES. THEY'RE FUN TO WATCH, AMAZING TO LEARN ABOUT, AND TRULY ONE OF OUR MORE FASCINATING WILD THINGS. [music]

Channel: Texas Parks and Wildlife

Views: 178,066

Keywords: texas, parks, and, wildlife, venomous, snakes, snakebite, rattlesnakes, copperheads, cottonmouths, water, moccasins, coral, snake, cc, closed, captioning

Id: qz2TBbl_01A

Length: 2min 9sec (129 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 08 2009