The Copperhead

By Owen Jones

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, similar to the ground on which they live, but they sometimes appear pretty whitish. There are visible spots or pits on the heads of these snakes that look like darker tiny specks, but there is also a rather discolored stripe on the head area behind the eyes; this stripe looks very diffuse on top but it gets brownish towards the edges.

Copperheads 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 they like to feed on frogs, small rodents, cicadas, lizards, caterpillars and anything else that cabe taken without too much trouble.

Among the best hide-outs for the copperhead, 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. These 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 copperheads are born live and are not hatched; their number ranges between one and fourteen, with the mating period extending ’till mid autumn.

The bites of copperhead snakes must have immediate medical care since they are not only very painful but they may also lead to permanent scarring and tissue loss. Avoid copperhead snakes when you come across them, since many people get bitten when trying to kill or handle them.

Snakes will not harm you unless they feel threatened, then, you will become the victim of a fierce attack by a creature that is just as afraid of us as we are of them. Statistics reveal that these snakes have the highest incidence in bite frequency in the United States, because Copperhead snakes attack quite out of the blue without giving threatening warnings like other species.

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