< Back | Name: | Copperhead Snake | | Family: | Venomous Snakes | | Scientific Name:
| Agkistrodon contrortix | | Description: | Pit viper, keeled scales. Gray, tan or light brown, with 7-20 dark brown, light-edged, hourglassshaped crossbands. Head can be gray, brown or reddish. Belly is cream-colored with dark gray, brown or black blotches. Young resemble adults, except tail tip is bright yellow or greenish yellow. Adults 24-36 inches in length. | | Range: | Statewide. | | Habits and Habitat: | Occurs in mixed pine-hardwood forests, bottomland hardwood forests, and rocky or brushy fields and hillsides. Active April-November; prowls at night during hot weather. Two to 14 young born August-September. Primarily eats rodents. Also eats frogs, lizards, small snakes and cicadas. Young copperheads and cottonmouths use yellow tail tip as a lure to attract prey. |
|
|
| |
|
Click Photo to Enlarge Suzanne Collins |
|
| | |