Guides

Each guide answers one question completely, using observations you can make from a safe distance.

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  How to Tell If a Snake Is Venomous — And Why the Usual Advice Is Wrong

  Triangular heads and slit pupils are the standard advice and both are unreliable. Here is what actually distinguishes venomous US snakes, and why location beats appearance.

  4 min read

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  Copperhead or Water Snake? The Band Shape Settles It

  Copperhead bands are wide at the sides and narrow over the spine. Water snake bands are the reverse. That one difference resolves most sightings — here is how to read it.

  3 min read

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  Cottonmouth or Water Snake? Watch How It Swims

  Cottonmouths float high on the surface and gape to show a white mouth. Water snakes swim submerged and flee. Four tests you can run from the bank, plus why it matters.

  3 min read

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  Coral Snake or Kingsnake? The Rhyme Works — With Two Caveats

  Red touches yellow, kills a fellow — the rhyme is accurate in the United States and dangerously wrong elsewhere. Plus a second check that is easier to see: the snout.

  3 min read

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  Rattlesnake or Bullsnake? Look at the Tail, Not the Noise

  Bullsnakes hiss, flatten their heads and buzz their tails convincingly enough to be killed as rattlesnakes constantly. One glance at the tail settles it.

  3 min read