Agkistrodon contortrix (Linnaeus 1766)

This was a venomous southern copperhead, A. contortrix contortrix, a denizen of the pine and deciduous forests of southeastern United States, and perhaps one of the best known, and widest ranging copperhead subspecies. It ranges throughout the Gulf Coast States, up the Mississippi River Valley to the level of southern Illinois and along the Atlantic Coastal Plain from extreme southern Delaware into the Florida panhandle (Gloyd and Conant, 1990), placing it in hurricane-prone areas, which is of importance to those living in these regions, and first-responders offering aid to those affected by such a disaster. Its Floridian range includes Gadsen, Liberty and Calhoun counties near the Apalachicola river basin (Tennant, 1998b). Reports of copperheads elsewhere in Florida are usually attributable to sightings of lightly pigmented cottonmouths or reddish colored non-venomous species such as corn snakes (Pantherophis gutatta) that are mistakenly identified.Created: 2005

This 2005 image depicted a venomous trans-Pecos copperhead snake, Agkistrodon contortrix pictigaster. As the southwestern-most subspecie, it is the only copperhead that ranges across the Rio Grande into Mexico (Cambell and Lamar 2004). It lives in a variety of habitats throughout the Chihuahuan Biotic Province of southwestern Texas and adjacent North-central Mexico, and is therefore, present only in the southwestern extreme of the hurricane-prone area of the United States (Gloyd and Conant, 1990), which is of importance to those who live in these regions, and first-responders offering aid to those affected by such a disaster. Its home includes riperian woodlands, forested canyons, canebrakes, and dry scrubby flatlands, preferring piles of dead cane that accumulate along rivers, which makes it particularly vulnerable to being translocated by rapidly rising flood waters (Gloyd and Connant, 1990) such as those associated with hurricane-associated floods.Created: 2005

This 2005 image depicted a venomous broad banded copperhead snake, Agkistrodon contortrix laticinctus, one of the most strikingly colorful copperhead subspecies.The broad banded copperhead is a southwestern subspecies that ranges throughout south-central Texas to the level of Victoria and Frio counties, northward through central Oklahoma up to the southern edge of Cowley County Kansas (Gloyd and Conant, 1990), placing it in hurricane-prone areas, which is of importance to those living in these regions, and first-responders offering aid to those affected by such a disaster. Unlike their northern cousins which are frequently found in association with rocks and talus slopes, the broad banded copperhead has a preference for areas with sandy soil that are covered with live oak trees and brush (Gloyd and Conant, 1990; Tenant, 1998). Within such regions, the underlying dead leaf litter provides nearly perfect camouflage for the snake’s sharply contrasting pattern and coloration.Created: 2005

This 2008 photograph depicted a juvenile venomous Southern copperhead snake, Agkistrodon contortrix, as it was coiled in a Decatur, Georgia basement.The adult A. contortrix pitviper grows to a length 50cm to 95cm, and is pictured in PHIL 8130 and 10841. This particular view includes all body regions of this specimen, encompassing the yellow distal tail, which disappears when the snake reaches adulthood, as well as the triangular-shaped head. Also, you’ll note the scalar coloration, consisting of a beige base color, traversed by dark-brown crossbands along its entire length, except for its head and yellow juvenile tail. The name pitviper is derived from the fact that these snakes possess two heat-sensing organs situated inside a pit on either side of its head between each ipsilateral eye and nostril, both of which are visible on the right side of this snake’s head from this anterior oblique perspective.Created: 2008

This 2008 photograph depicted a juvenile venomous Southern copperhead snake, Agkistrodon contortrix, as it was coiled in a Decatur, Georgia basement.The adult A. contortrix pitviper grows to a length 50cm to 95cm, and is pictured in PHIL 8130 and 10841. The name pitviper is derived from the fact that these snakes possess two heat-sensing organs situated inside a pit on either side of its head between each ipsilateral eye and nostril, both of which are visible on the right side of this snake’s head from this anterior oblique perspective.Created: 2008

This 2008 photograph depicted a juvenile venomous Southern copperhead snake, Agkistrodon contortrix, as it was coiled in a Decatur, Georgia basement.The adult A. contortrix pitviper grows to a length 50cm to 95cm, and is pictured in PHIL 8130 and 10841. The name pitviper is derived from the fact that these snakes possess two heat-sensing organs situated inside a pit on either side of its head between each ipsilateral eye and nostril, both of which are visible on the right side of this snake’s head from this anterior oblique perspective.Created: 2008

This 2008 photograph included the head and tail regions of a juvenile venomous Southern copperhead snake, Agkistrodon contortrix, which was found coiled in a Decatur, Georgia basement.This particular image offers an excellent view of the juvenile coloration of the distal tail tip, which is a bright yellow, disappearing when the snake reaches its adult status. The adult A. contortrix pitviper grows to a length 50cm to 95cm, and is pictured in PHIL 8130 and 10841. The name pitviper is derived from the fact that these snakes possess two heat-sensing organs situated inside a pit on either side of its head between each ipsilateral eye and nostril, both of which are visible from an anterolateral perspective in PHIL 10843, 10848, and 10849.Created: 2008

This 2008 photograph revealed a detailed view of a juvenile venomous Southern copperhead snake's, Agkistrodon contortrix, skin surface, which was found coiled in a Decatur, Georgia basement.The image offers an excellent view of the juvenile coloration of the distal tail tip, which is a bright yellow, disappearing when the snake reaches its adult status. The adult A. contortrix pitviper grows to a length 50cm to 95cm, and is pictured in PHIL 8130 and 10841. The name pitviper is derived from the fact that these snakes possess two heat-sensing organs situated inside a pit on either side of its head between each ipsilateral eye and nostril, both of which are visible from an anterolateral perspective in PHIL 10843, 10848, and 10849.Created: 2008

From a closer perspective, this 2008 photograph revealed a detailed view of a juvenile venomous Southern copperhead snake's, Agkistrodon contortrix, skin surface, which was found coiled in a Decatur, Georgia basement.These scales, or scutes, act to protect the animal, help the snake maneuver through its environment by providing traction, and through their variegated patterning, help camoflouge the reptile, thereby protecting it from the eyes of preditors, while at the same time, allowing it to sneak up on its prey.The coloration includes a pale tannish brown to a pinkish brown base colo, which is overlaid by 10 to 18 darker brown crossbands, one of which is evident here. Also note the juvenile’s yellow distal tail coloration best seen in PHIL 10842, 10846, and 10847, which is a characteristic found in juveniles, but not in adults.Created: 2008

This 2008 photograph depicted a juvenile venomous Southern copperhead snake, Agkistrodon contortrix, as it was coiled in a Decatur, Georgia basement.The adult A. contortrix pitviper grows to a length 50cm to 95cm, and is pictured in PHIL 8130 and 10841. The name pitviper is derived from the fact that these snakes possess two heat-sensing organs situated inside a pit on either side of its head between each ipsilateral eye and nostril, both of which are visible on the right side of this snake’s head from an anterolateral perspective in PHIL 10843, 10848, and 10849. Note the yellow coloration of the distal tip of its tail, which is a characteristic found in juveniles, but not in adults, which is more visible in PHIL 10842, 10846, 10847. Also of note is the forked tongue, which is thought to give such reptiles a stereo sense of smells within its environment. With its tongue, the snake is really tasting the air surrounding its head.Created: 2008

This 2008 photograph depicted a juvenile venomous Southern copperhead snake, Agkistrodon contortrix, as it was coiled in a Decatur, Georgia basement.The adult A. contortrix pitviper grows to a length 50cm to 95cm, and is pictured in PHIL 8130 and 10841. The name pitviper is derived from the fact that these snakes possess two heat-sensing organs situated inside a pit on either side of its head between each ipsilateral eye and nostril, both of which are visible here, on the left side of this snake’s head from this anterolateral perspective. Also note the yellow coloration of the distal tip of its tail (see PHIL 10842, 10846, 10847), which is a characteristic found in juveniles, but not in adults.Created: 2008

This 2008 photograph depicted a juvenile venomous Southern copperhead snake, Agkistrodon contortrix, as it was coiled in a Decatur, Georgia basement.The adult A. contortrix pitviper grows to a length 50cm to 95cm, and is pictured in PHIL 8130 and 10841. The name pitviper is derived from the fact that these snakes possess two heat-sensing organs situated inside a pit on either side of its head between each ipsilateral eye and nostril, both of which are visible on the right side of this snake’s head from an anterolateral perspective in PHIL 10843, 10848, and 10849. Also note the yellow coloration of the distal tip of its tail, which is a characteristic found in juveniles, but not in adults.Created: 2008

This 2008 photograph depicted an adult venomous Southern copperhead snake, Agkistrodon contortrix, as it was coiled in its natural Costal South Carolina environment. The Southern copperhead grows to a length 50cm to 95cm. Please see PHIL 10842 through 10851, for images depicting a juvenile A. contortrix.Created: 2008

This 2005 image depicted a venomous Northern copperhead snake, Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen. The northern copperhead ranges from southern Illinois, extreme northeastern Mississippi, Northern Alabama, and northern Georgia northeastward through the Appalachian Mountains to the level of southeastern New York and southern Massachusetts (Gloyd and Connant, 1990), placing it in hurricane-prone areas, which is of importance to those living in these regions, and first-responders offering aid to those affected by such a disaster. The preferred habitat of this race is characterized as open deciduous forests with rocky areas with an abundance of fallen leaves (Connat 1975).Created: 2005

The Nature Station, Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area, Trigg County, Kentucky, US

The Nature Station, Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area, Trigg County, Kentucky, US