CROWLEY - According to the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, coral snakes are generally rare in Louisiana - mainly found in the upper Florida Parishes on the east side of the Amite River. The deadly snake with beautifully striped yellow, red and black skin.

“They told us that the last time someone brought one to them was in 1980,” said Dwayne Petry who recently found one in his garage. “However, he also said that there have been an increase in reports of coral snakes in the state.”

Petry, who had a guest spot the one in his garage, killed it with ‘a large stick.” He kept it’s body in a mason jar filled with alcohol just because the snakes are rare and ‘very beautifully’ designed.’

They are also quite deadly.

Coral snakes possess one of the most potent venoms of any North American snake. Most venomous snakes must inject between 75–100 mg of venom to be fatal.

However, Acadia Parish residents can take some consolation in the fact that relatively few bites are recorded due to the reclusive nature of the coral snake and the fact they generally inhabit sparsely populated areas. According to the American National Institutes of Health. There are an average of only 15–25 coral snake bites in the United States each year. That, however, does not mean that people shouldn’t be on the lookout for them.

“I just worry about some child seeing this snake with this beautiful design and wanting to grab it,” added Petry, who was waiting for an official from LDWF to come collect the snake they have saved.

It is theorized that the reason for the rise in the coral snake population may be last year’s flood that brought a large amount of water from the northern Mississippi River that brought a large amount of flood waters from the north and midwest.

Nonetheless, people in Acadia Parish and Acadiana as a whole may want to familiarize themselves with the snake with the intricately designed skin so as to know to avoid it.

“The one we found appeared to be a baby,” said Petry. “That means there’s a mother out there somewhere who is bigger and probably has laid many more eggs.”