Welcome to my article about poisonous snakes in Texas, which tells which live there and hopefully how to avoid them. Texas is a huge state with a wide variety of snakes and other wildlife. The correct term would actually be venomous snakes of Texas but since most people say poisonous, that is what I went with.
According to poisonous-snakes.com Texas has 16 different breeds of poisonous snakes, 9 of which are different types of rattlesnakes. Rattlesnakes of course have the distinctive rattles which make a noise when the snake is agitated. This should be considered a warning that a rattlesnake is about to strike. However some Rattlesnakes may be small or may be missing its rattle and you won’t hear them.
Copperheads are also found in Texas and are a little more laid back than some dangerous reptiles. Shockingly copperheads are a copper color or brownish coloring and they have hourglass shapes on them.
Cottonmouths are a poisonous snake found in the great stake of Texas. They are named for the white coloring on the inside of their mouth. Their coloring varies but they open their mouth to show fangs when mad or scared. These snakes tend to like water and are good swimmers.
Coral Snakes may be the most dangerous snake found in Texas. In part to their strong venom and in part to looking like some harmless snakes. Remember on the Coral snake to look at the colored rings. Red on Yellow will kill a fellow. If the rings go red then yellow it’s the poisonous Coral snake.
By the way if you are bitten by a snake don’t cut it open and or try to suck the poison out. That is a bad idea that does not work and can make the wound worse and cause you to bleed more than you should. Don’t screw around if you are bitten by a snake get immediate medical treatment.
To avoid getting bitten by a poisonous snake in Texas or anywhere, here are some tips. Watch where you walk at all times when outside. Snakes tend to bite when stepped on or scared by a person getting too close to them. Few snakes will attack for no reason, give them some space if you see one, and often they will gladly leave.
Don’t have lots of brush and or trash around your home. Snakes love to hide in brush piles and are attracted to the rats that a trashy yard brings in. Snakes actually do you a good turn by killing rodents around your home, which is why I won’t kill one out of hand.
According to Lobo-Texas.com around 7,000 people are bitten by venomous snakes in the United States each year. They go on to say only 1 out of 500 snake bite victims actually die from it. The site says that Texas has one to two people die each year from snake bite. Thanks for reading this article about Texas and its venomous snakes on Associatedcontent.com.
Sources
http://poisonous-snakes.com/texas-poisonous-snakes.html
http://www.texassnakes.net/pictures.html
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/learning/junior_naturalists/vsnakes.phtml
