Some of the more common snakes in North America are copperhead snakes. They're the most likely to bite, although their venom is mild, and their bites are not fatal.
The biology department at Pennsylvania State University says that these snakes get their name from their copper-red heads. Some snakes are called copperheads, but they are not the same as North American copperheads.
Pit vipers are similar to copperheads. Pit vipers have pits between their eyes and noses that are able to detect minute differences in temperatures so that they can accurately strike the source of heat. Jeff Beane, herpetologist at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, said that copperhead behavior is similar to pit vipers.
There are characteristics.
Medium-size copperheads are between 2 and 3 feet in length. Female copperheads are longer than males, but males have proportionally longer tails.
The bodies of copperheads are patterned. The crossbands are shaped like a saddlebag or an hourglass, and are on a background of lighter brown, tan, and salmon. He described the saddlebags as wide on the sides of the body and narrow in the center of the back. Some crossbands may be broken, and there may be small dark spots in the spaces between the crossbands.
Several other nonvenomous species of snakes have the same coloring and are often confused for copperheads. The only kind of snakes with hourglass-shaped markings are copperheads.
The snake's coppery-brown head lacks the adornments of its patterned body, except for a pair of dark dots on top of it. He described copperheads' bellies as being grayish, brownish, stippled, and often large, dark spots or smudges along the sides of their belly.
The copperheads have muscular, thick bodies. Their heads are triangular and distinct from the neck, with a ridge between the eye and nostril. Their eyes are orange, tan or reddish-brown and their pupils are vertical.
Young copperheads have bright yellow or greenish yellow tail tips. The color fades in a year.
Habitat.
"From southern New England to West Texas and northern Mexico, copperheads reside," said Beane, advising those interested to check out range maps in a number of field guides.
A copperhead snake had a litter of four offspring in 2009. The snake hadn't had any contact with a man in five years. The female copperhead was the first evidence of virgin birth in a pit viper snake. Credit: Chuck Smith
The copperhead is divided into five different types: the northern, northwestern, southern, and two southwestern varieties. The largest range of the northern copperhead is from Alabama to Massachusetts.
According 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. Ecotones are transition areas between two ecological communities. According to Penn State, they like rocky, wooded areas, mountains, thickets near streams, desert oases, canyons and other natural environments.
The copperheads are tolerant of habitat change. They can survive in the suburbs. There are wood and sawdust piles, abandoned farm buildings, junkyards and old construction areas where copperheads can be found. "They often seek shelter under surface cover such as boards, sheet metal, logs or large flat rocks," said Beane.
The behavior of people.
The copperheads are semi-social snakes. They usually return to the same den every year, while they hunt alone. The montane is a forest area below the timberline with large, coniferous trees, which is often used as a winter home for timber rattlesnakes, rat snakes or other species. "Piedmont and Coastal Plain snakes are more likely to be seen together than apart," said Beane.
In the spring and fall, copperheads are out and about, but in the summer they become nocturnal. They enjoy being out on warm nights after rain. copperheads will sometimes climb into bushes or trees in search of food or to bask in the sun. Sometimes they go swimming.
Scientists theorize that copperheads migrate late in the spring to their summer feeding area, then return home in the fall.
A diet.
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When attacking large prey, copperheads bite the victim and then release it. Once the prey has died, they let the venom work and then look for it. The victim is usually held in the snakes mouths until they die. The jaws of copperheads are flexible and can be used to swallow a meal. Adult copperheads can only eat 10 or 12 meals per year, depending on the size of their dinners.
It is possible to reproduce.
The copperhead season lasts from February to May and from August to October. When two or more meet in the presence of a receptive female, males may engage in ritual combat. The snakes that lose rarely challenge again, according to Penn State. A female will always reject males who back down from a fight with her.
Babies are born live when copperhead snakes don't lay eggs. Matt Jeppson has an image credit.
Eggs can be hatched inside the mother's body with the help of copperheads. Babies are born. In late summer or fall, females will give birth to babies from two to 18 years old. The female will store her sperm and wait for her to finish her hibernating state until after the fall season. The baby copperheads have fangs and venom that is as potent as an adult's.
Penn State says that young copperheads are 20 to 25 cm long and are born with both fangs and venom. They mostly eat insects.
Young copperheads may have different hunting patterns than adults. Young snakes may sit motionless, flicking their yellow tail tips. The tail of a small caterpillar or other insect may attract a lizard or frog within striking range.
Taxonomy and classification.
The Taxonomy of copperheads is stated in the Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
Kingdom: Animalia Subkingdom: Bilateria.
The contortrix of Agkistrodon is called the Southern copperhead.
Agkistrodon contortrix laticinctus is a broad-banded copperhead.
Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen is from the Northern copperhead.
Agkistrodon contortrix phaeogaster is also known as the Osage copperhead.
Agkistrodon contortrix pictigaster is a copperhead.
Bite.
According to the North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension Service, copperheads bite more people than any other snake. The venom of copperhead is not very potent.
Unlike venomous snakes, copperheads don't give warning signs and strike immediately if threatened. The image is from getty.
Unlike venomous snakes, copperheads don't give warning signs and strike immediately if threatened. According to Beane, a copperhead bite can cause temporary tissue damage in the immediate area of the bite. Their bite is very rarely fatal to humans. Children, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems should seek medical attention if they are bitten by a copperhead.
Beane thinks you should keep a Copperhead snake in your yard. He told Blue Ridge Public Radio that if they are coiled up somewhere where they want to be, they will remain completely still and hope that you don't see them or bother them. If you disturb them, they will probably try to get away. They're going to try to get back to something familiar if you move them.
The benefits of having a Copperhead near your house include the fact that they eat a lot of species that we don't like, like mice and rats, that can cause diseases and problems. Eating a lot of rodents, snakes are swallowing a lot of ticks. There are diseases caused by ticks, like Rocky Mountain spotted fever. There are studies showing that snakes are significant tick destroyers.
Research.
According to recent research on the US National Library of Medicine, snake venom is a potential resource of biologically active compounds that can be used in cancer treatments. Scientists have found that a chemical in copperhead venom may be helpful in stopping the growth of tumors. The University of Southern California injected the contortrostatin directly into the mammary glands of mice that had been injected with human breast cancer cells.
The growth of the tumor and the growth of blood vessels that supply the tumor were slowed by the injection of the protein. One site where breast cancer spreads effectively is where the venom'sProtein impaired the spread of the tumor to the lungs.
There are other facts.
The length of the snake's fangs is related to the length of the copperhead's fangs.
The copperheads emit a smell similar to cucumbers when touched.
The penny is called a copperhead.
According to the Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association, copperheads were the name of the Northern Democrats who opposed the U.S. Civil War.
There are additional resources.
