Because of their long, silky hairs, children are tempted to touch them. Under the hairs are small protrusions, each bearing a circlet of very small spines resembling tiny porcupine quills. The venom is injected when these spines pierce the child’s skin and the tips break off, producing a burning, itching, irritated, inflamed area. The welts, ranging in size from a dime to a dollar, are sometimes followed by severe muscle cramps and headache. Not lethal, the toxin may cause enough sleeplessness in a child to reduce his resistance to other infections.
Treatment suggested by Dr. Bernard J. Collopy, Assistant Medical Director of the Miami-Inspiration Hospital of Miami, Arizona, consists of immersing the inflamed area in iced water for thirty minutes. Remove for one minute at ten minute intervals for relief from the cold. The skin may blister and peel at the site much as in the case of a first degree burn, but should heal completely in ten days. Some physicians suggest an opiate for relief of pain in severe cases. Cooling lotions may be applied to relieve the itching.
Arizona coral snake
(Micruroides euryxanthus)
The coral snake, of which there are two species in the United States, belongs to the Elapine group, which is represented in the Old World by the cobras and other poisonous snakes. These two species, the coral snake of the Gulf States, and the smaller Arizona coral snake whose range extends into the desert lands of southern New Mexico and Arizona, are the only representatives of the Elapine group found in this country.
Arizona coral snake (Photo by Marvin H. Frost, Sr.)
The Arizona coral is shy and secretive in its habits, timid rather than pugnacious, and it is so rarely seen that little is known of its habits.
The poison mechanism of the coral snake is somewhat different from that of the pit viper group, to which the copperheads, cottonmouths, and rattlesnakes belong. The teeth of the coral are short, and to be effective the coral snake must chew rather than strike its victim.
The Arizona coral snake is so small—rarely reaching 2 feet in length—and its mouth is so tiny, that it would be very difficult for it to bite an adult human. It is conceivable that a small child playing with one might be bitten.
Because of its close resemblance to several ringed or banded snakes of the desert and also to the Arizona mountain kingsnake, or “coral” kingsnake, of the ponderosa pine highlands of the Southwest, a brief description of the Arizona coral snake is indicated. One of the beautifully spectacular snakes of the desert, it is marked by bands of dark red, cream, and black, which encircle the body. Superficially the markings of the Arizona mountain kingsnake and other tricolored ringed snakes appear similar. However, the red of the kingsnake and of others is usually brighter, and the black bands narrower than those of the coral.