Are King Snakes venomous?
but they do eat other venomous snakes. The Coral King Snake resembles a Coral Snake, but the stripe pattern is different. Remember: Red touch Yellow, Kill a Fellow; Red touch Black, Good for Jack. You can safely keep a King Snake as a pet. ___________ I would like to add that the red and yellow red and black saying isn't true anywhere but in the United States. It is absolutely true that King snakes of North America are not poisonous, but what you called a Coral King Snake is more properly named a Banded King Snake. It is certainly one of the most beautiful and colorful snakes in the worlkd, and when I was a child, we kept both the Speckled King Snake and the Banded King Snake and placed them in our barn as a control for rats, as well as poisonous snakes. Rattlesnakes were a real problem where I was raised in North Mississippi, and King Snakes were great predators of other snakes, including smaller King Snakes. I have witnessed them swallowing rattlesnakes several times, although I never got to see the initial strike and killing of the rattlesnake. Whenever I was playing in the woods, fields or along the river which ran alongthe back side of our property, and saw a King Snake, I would catch it and place it inside my T-shirt and take it home to release in the barn. I got many a whipping from my Mother for bringing them in the house to play with them. They are very mild mannered and not at all prone to bite, at least the ones I caught were. Way Cool Snakes