The snakes usually hold smaller prey in their mouths until the victim dies. They let the venom work, and then track down the prey once it has died. The ADW explains that when attacking large prey, copperheads bite the victim, and then release it. He described copperheads as being "mobile ambush predators." Mostly, they get their prey by "sit-and-wait ambush" however, they sometimes do hunt, using their heat-sensing pits to find prey. Sometimes, they even voluntarily go swimming.Īccording to Animal Diversity Web (ADW), a database maintained by the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, scientists have hypothesized that copperheads migrate late in the spring to their summer feeding area, then return home in early fall. While they usually stay on the ground, copperheads will sometimes climb into low bushes or trees in search of prey or to bask in the sun. They especially like being out on humid, warm nights after rain. Beane said that populations in the "montane" (a forest area below the timberline with large, coniferous trees) often spend the winter hibernating "with timber rattlesnakes, rat snakes or other species." However, "Piedmont and Coastal Plain snakes are more likely to hibernate individually," Beane said.They also can be seen near one another while basking in the sun, drinking, eating and courting, according to the Smithsonian Zoo.Īccording to the Ohio Public Library Information Network, copperheads are usually out and about during the day in the spring and fall, but during the summer they become nocturnal. While they usually hunt alone, they usually hibernate in communal dens and often return to the same den every year. BehaviourĬopperheads are semi-social snakes. They "often seek shelter under surface cover such as boards, sheet metal, logs or large flat rocks," said Beane. Copperheads can sometimes be found in wood and sawdust piles, abandoned farm buildings, junkyards and old construction areas. They like rocky, wooded areas, mountains, thickets near streams, desert oases, canyons and other natural environments, according to Penn State Beane added that they like "almost any habitat with both sunlight and cover."Īccording to the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, copperheads are "quite tolerant of habitat alteration." This means that they can survive well in suburban areas. According to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, the northern copperhead has by far the largest range, from Alabama to Massachusetts and Illinois.Īccording to Beane, copperheads are happy in "an extremely wide range of habitats," though usually "at least some semblance of woods or forest habitat is present." They are "particularly fond of ecotones," which are transition areas between two ecological communities. There are five subspecies of copperhead distributed according to geographic range: the northern, northwestern, southern and two southwestern subspecies. Scientists confirmed recently the female copperhead was the first evidence of virgin birth in a pit viper snake. But the snake hadn't had any contact with a male in five years. Young copperheads are more grayish in color than adults and possess "bright yellow or greenish yellow tail tips." According to Beane, "this color fades in about a year." HabitatĬopperheads reside "from southern New England to West Texas and northern Mexico," said Beane, advising those interested to check out range maps in a number of field guides.Ī copperhead snake, like the one pictured here, had a litter of four offspring in 2009. Their pupils are vertical, like cats' eyes, and their irises are usually orange, tan or reddish-brown. Their heads are "somewhat triangular/arrow-shaped and distinct from the neck," with a "somewhat distinct ridge separating top of head from side snout between eye and nostril," said Beane. He described copperheads' bellies as "whitish, yellowish or a light brownish, stippled or mottled, with brown, gray or blackish, often large, paired dark spots or smudges along sides of belly."Ĭopperheads have muscular, thick bodies and keeled (ridged) scales. In contrast to its patterned body, the snake's coppery-brown head lacks such adornments, "except for a pair of tiny dark dots usually present on top of the head," said Beane. However, copperheads are the only kind of snakes with hourglass-shaped markings. Several other nonvenomous species of snakes have similar coloring, and so are frequently confused for copperheads.
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