Copperhead Snakes

By Colin Jones | March 23, 2009

Copperhead snakes are the cause of most of the snake-bite problems in the United States. The copperhead can be distinguished by its thick shape and its neck, which is quite distinct from its body as well as by its pale cross-band tan pattern that darkens in the middle and on the sides.

Copperhead snakes have pale bellies, very similar to the the colour of the ground, but their appearance can also be whitish on occasions. There are visible spots or pits on the head of copperhead snakes that look like small dark specks and there is also a rather discolored stripe on the head behind the eyes; diffuse on the top, the stripe gets a fair bit darker towards the sides of the snake’s head.

Copperhead snakes can be found almost anywhere, from rock and pond areas to woods and the shores of streams. Their choice of habitat is dictated by the predominance of prey, as copperhead snakes live on frogs, small rodents, cicadas, lizards, caterpillars and anything else that cabe taken without too much trouble.

Among the best hide-outs for copperhead snakes, wood piles, stone slabs, walls, debris and abandoned or ruined buildings are the most common, which explains the possibility of a human encounter with them in such areas. Copperhead snakes are most active in the spring and summer months and as long as the weather stays warm, after which they enter the hibernation period.

Copperhead snakes use the dens in which they spend the winter year after year and usually there are large numbers of other individuals in hibernation together. In summer time when it is too hot outside, the copperhead will stay in the shade during the day and hunt at night. On lovely warm days, this snake will lie in the sun on rocks or wood debris. The young of copperhead snakes are born live and are not hatched; their number ranges between one and fourteen, with the mating period extending ’till mid autumn.

Immediate medical assistance is absolutely necessary in the case of bites by copperhead snakes since there is the risk of permanent scarring accompanied by really unbearable pain. The best advice you can get when encountering copperhead snakes is to avoid them, because many people get bitten when they threaten the snakes when roaming or hunting.

Snakes will not attack you unless they feel threatened, then, you will see how fiercely they can defend themselves. Statistics reveal that copperhead snakes have the highest incidence biting in the United States, because these snakes attack immediately without giving warning signs like other species do.

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