Photo by Jim Jung. All rights reserved

Copperheads

Mother Copperheads all over the midwest give birth in late summer to their assorted broods. Copperheads, like Rattlesnakes and Cottonmouths, are pit vipers - named for the sensory pit located between their eye and nostril. And all pit vipers give birth to living young rather than lay eggs.

Baby Copperheads are born fully developed and armed with a tiny (but potent) amount of venom. These young, foot-long infants are also born with a yellow tail which they use as a lure for prey. The tail tip is wriggled wormlike and swayed slowly from side to side to attract lizards and other small insectivores. Once the prey is near enough the young snake strikes and then dines on an easy meal.

Among our venomous snakes Copperheads have the least potent venom and throughout its range there is no record anywhere of a human fatality resulting from its bite. Which is not to say that you shouldn't respect these animals - the pugnacious little fellow pictured above bit the photographer while being moved off the trail where he was discovered. He suffered a painful, swollen finger for a few days as a result. Which leads logically to an important safety tip... never pick up a poisonous snake! Most bites happen when snakes are handled and this bite was no different.

Copperheads - our smallest (up to three feet) and most numerous venomous snake - are generally shy and retiring. They prefer the edges of rocky wooded hilltops and brushy meadows where they hunt mice, voles and other rodents. With the coming of cool weather these snakes migrate nocturnally to their winter dens - beginning in our area during the last two weeks of August. I've noticed that most of the roadkill victims I've seen have been around the time of the full moon so perhaps they use the moonlight to navigate... or maybe they just prefer polarized light. Unlike Rattlesnakes - which have fixed communal dens holding large numbers of snakes - Copperheads apparently hibernate individually.

Unless migrating, Copperheads are never found near (and especially in!) water. The similarly colored Midland Water Snake (Natrix sipedon pleuralis) is often mistaken (and killed) for this resemblance. Any "Copperhead" encountered swimming near your dock or boat is this species rather than the upland loving Copperhead.

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