false coral snake, pipe snake, Anilius scytale (3)

photo: Flickr user berniedup

false coral snake, pipe snake, Anilius scytale (5)

photo: Flickr user Omar: Cobra da terra

false coral snake, pipe snake, Anilius scytale (1)

photo: Flickr user WWF-Brasil

false coral snake, pipe snake, Anilius scytale (2)

photo: Flickr user asnyder5

false coral snake, pipe snake, Anilius scytale (4)

photo: Flickr user asnyder5

Habitat: South America
Status: Not Evaluated

I can’t think of a better reptile mascot for Halloween than the False Coral Snake or Pipe Snake (Anilius scytale). Growing to around 30 inches in length, this red/orange and black banded snake can be found slithering through the tropics of northern South America. They feast mainly on amphibians and other reptiles – including snakes. So, if you’re a snake and see this guy knockin’ on your door it’s safe to assume he’s there for tricks rather than treats.

At least you wouldn’t be faced with the snake it’s mimicking… that sounds like it would be a whole lot worse. False Coral Snakes mimic the highly venomous coral snakes in the family Elapidae. Not only that, they have a neat little defensive mechanism that fends off any curious predators. It will flatten its tail and then raise it up into the air so that it takes on the form of a venomous Cobra snake.

Really all this snake does is bluff, bluff, bluff. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it can probably take down a frog pretty quickly but it can’t inflict the same kind of damage it wishes it could. I guess if you can’t actually be poisonous the next best thing is to appear to be!