You sure you saw a coral snake, in Lowell, MA?? I live now in NC and they are extremely rare, and live only in the Southeast corner of NC, near Eastern diamondback rattler-territory (both are endangered in NC). Perhaps you saw a king snake (red on black, friend of Jack, red on yellow can kill a fellow). Maybe it was a released pet, otherwise, a kingsnake?

On to timber rattlers: those poor beasts have been persecuted, and one a-hole from NY(?) is responsible for the demise of some 9,000 in the Northeast. Definitely give the snakes a wide berth if you can, but my experience (w/ Western diamondbacks) is that they're pretty laid-back (in general). Always watch where you step; I almost stepped on a copperhead in Chapel Hill, NC. Luckily, he hissed first!

This thread is all screwed up. We have people posting on this thread who are from Tennessee, North Carolina, and San Antonio, TX, for heaven's sake -- cross-posting and getting confused about who's seeing snakes where, thinking other posters are talking about snakes in their own neighborhoods, when in fact, they're hundreds of miles away! For Pete's sake, this thread needs to be deleted.

I agree...!!  I am in Hutto Tx and the thread is messed up.