Eastern Copperhead
Agkistrodon contortrix • Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Viperidae, Subfamily: Crotalinae, Genus: Agkistrodon, Species: A. contortrix
Eastern and central North America, ranging from southern New England south to northern Florida, and west to eastern Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Look up Eastern Copperhead in the Snake Encyclopedia →Family
Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Viperidae, Subfamily: Crotalinae, Genus: Agkistrodon, Species: A. contortrix
Conservation
IUCN Red List status is Least Concern. Populations are generally stable, though locally threatened by habitat destruction, road mortality, and intentional killing.
Physical Description
Characterized by a pale tan, pinkish, or light brown ground color overlaid with distinct hourglass-shaped or dumbbell-shaped dark brown to reddish-brown crossbands. The head is broad, triangular, and distinct from the neck, often uniformly coppery-red or light brown. Scales are heavily keeled, and the body is stout and muscular.
Size & Dimensions
Adults typically range from 60 to 90 cm in total length, with maximum recorded lengths exceeding 130 cm. This specimen appears to be an adult of moderate size.
Habitat
Deciduous forests, mixed woodlands, rocky outcroppings, swampland borders, and areas near streams and rivers, from sea level up to elevations of about 1,500 meters.
Diet & Feeding
Primarily carnivorous, feeding on small mammals, rodents, birds, lizards, amphibians, and large insects like cicadas. They are ambush predators that rely on cryptic coloration for camouflage while waiting for prey to pass.
Reproduction
Viviparous (gives birth to live young), producing litters typically ranging from 1 to 21 offspring. Mating generally occurs in late summer or autumn, with young born in late summer of the following year.
Look-alikes
Frequently confused with corn snakes, cottonmouths, and milk snakes. Distinguished by the signature hourglass-shaped crossbands that are narrow at the backbone and wider at the sides, as well as the solid coppery head coloration.
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List status is Least Concern. Populations are generally stable, though locally threatened by habitat destruction, road mortality, and intentional killing.
Cultural Significance
Plays a vital ecological role in regulating small mammal and rodent populations. In human interactions, they are often misunderstood, but they are a native component of forest ecosystems across their range.
Notable Features
Features specialized heat-sensing pits located between the eye and nostril, which allow the snake to detect infrared radiation emitted by warm-blooded prey in total darkness.