Image of Moccasins

Description:

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