What do copperheads eat

The head is solid brown, and there are two tiny dots in the center of the top of the head. Juveniles resemble adults but have a bright yellow tail tip.

As pit-vipers they have facial pits that sense heat and are used to detect prey and predators. Male copperheads are larger than females. Many harmless species in our region are confused with this species but copperheads are the only species with hourglass-shaped crossbands all other species have blotches that are circular, square, or are widest down the center of the back.

Range and Habitat: Copperheads range throughout the eastern and central United States but are absent from most of Florida and south-central Georgia. Although copperheads are found in forested areas throughout most of South Carolina and Georgia, their habitat preferences change across our region.

In the mountains, copperheads are most common on dry rocky hillsides and sometimes den communally with timber rattlesnakes Crotalus horridus on open, south-facing hillsides. Their yellow eyes have elliptical or cat-like pupils.

Its body, covered with rough scales, is patterned with dark, hour glass-shaped cross bands, wider at their base and narrow across the back. Copperheads have heat-sensing "pits" located between the eyes and nostrils, hence the name "pit viper". Life History Copperheads feed on baby cottontails, swamp rabbits, rats, mice, birds, snakes, lizards, baby turtles, frogs, toads, and insects, especially grasshoppers and cicadas.

They are preyed on by other snakes and raptors birds of prey. Males reach sexual maturity within two years, females in three. Mating season is in the spring February to early May , shortly after leaving winter dens; and fall August to October with fertilization delayed until following spring. Copperheads, like other pit vipers, do not lay eggs. Instead the eggs are kept inside the female's body until the eggs are ready to "hatch.

The four to eight young, 7 to 10 inches 17 to 25 cm long, weigh less than an ounce 28 g at birth. Mating occurs in the spring. In late summer, four to eight babies are born. The yellow-green tail tip of the babies fades as they grow older. Copperheads live in remote, wooded areas.

Rocky hillsides with lots of places to sun, hide and hunt offer prime habitat. Like other snakes, copperheads are shy and try to live away from people. Protecting our forests allows the copperhead and other forest creatures to have safe places to live. Gestation lasts between three and nine months, depending on whether the snake undergoes hibernation before giving birth. Young reach sexual maturity after four years. Copperheads live up to 18 years, on average.

Copperhead Agkistrodon contortrix. Quick Facts Species Native Size 3 feet in length Habitat Lives in a variety of habitats, including woodlands, along streams and creeks, on rocky hills and in fields. Range Found across the Chesapeake watershed, excluding New York and the northernmost parts of Pennsylvania.