Copperhead snakes are the snakes that cause the nastiest and most frequent snake-bite problems in the United States. The copperhead can be distinguished by its stout shape and its neck, which is distinct from the body as well as by its pale cross-band tan pattern that gets darker in the middle and on the sides.
Copperhead snakes have pale bellies, which makes it look very similar to its background, but their colourisation also be whitish sometimes. There are obvious spots or pits on the head of the copperhead snake that appear like tiny dark specks. There is also a rather vague stripe on its head behind its eyes; less prominent on the top, the stripe gets a lot darker towards the sides of the snake’s head.
Copperhead snakes live in a wide variety of habitats. They can be found under rocks, in woods and on river banks or in pond areas. Their choice of abode is dictated by the presence of prey, as copperhead snakes live on frogs, small rodents, cicadas, lizards, caterpillars and anything else that is no match for their size.
Probably the most common haunts for copperhead snakes are wood piles, stone slabs, walls, debris and abandoned or ruined buildings, which explains the possibility of a face to face encounter in such areas. Copperhead snakes are active from March to October, with a hibernation period in the cold autumn and winter months.
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.
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 sense danger, when you will see how fiercely they can defend themselves. Statistics indicate that copperhead snakes are the most frequent life threateners in the US, because these snakes attack quite out of the blue without sending any warning signals like other species do.
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