Copperhead Question

cricketmd · Feb 25, 2015

I'm not sure if its been asked before and I couldn't find anything on this. Does anyone know if Copperheads run in packs or anything similar? More particulary, my question is "if you see one, does that necessarily mean there are more copperheads near by"? I found a VERY large one last fall trying to enter my garden. It got killed (don't be hatn' on me). Does this mean there are more? Maybe babies or a mate or something to look out for this year near same location? Having seen that ONE, should I be extra vigelent this year when gardening?

kwillia · Feb 25, 2015

Copperheads are native to our area. If you've seen one then you should most certainly ALWAYS assume there are more no matter how many you kill.

Hank · Feb 25, 2015

I eat copperheads for breakfast.

Grumpy · Feb 25, 2015

It's a shame Rod Rugg is no longer around, I'm sure he would have the perfect response.

RoseRed · Feb 25, 2015

Grumpy said:
It's a shame Rod Rugg is no longer around, I'm sure he would have the perfect response.

Maybe he or Uncle Stanley will make a guest appearance?

glhs837 · Feb 25, 2015

Do they nest in bunches? Not that I'm aware of. Had a baby one in my garage three years ago, not seen one since that close to the house. And I wont hate, but I will say they are great at vermin control. Between them and the one cat, I have yet to see any rodents in my house. I saw far more mice at my old house on Chancellors Run.

huntr1 · Feb 25, 2015

I don't know if it's true or not, but black snakes are supposed to keep copperheads away. Both are good for keeping rodents under control. That being said, I'd rather have a black snake around the property than a copperhead. We've only seen 1 at our place, and it was squished in the road out front. Thankfully, because it was a biggun. But the safe bet is where you see one, expect to see more. Not as in the exact spot, but on the same property.

cricketmd · Feb 25, 2015

glhs837 said:
Do they nest in bunches? Not that I'm aware of. Had a baby one in my garage three years ago, not seen one since that close to the house. And I wont hate, but I will say they are great at vermin control. Between them and the one cat, I have yet to see any rodents in my house. I saw far more mice at my old house on Chancellors Run.

Well I guess I'm different then you. :huggy:

I would prefer rodents to snakes or prefer cats for vermin control than snakes. Even more so if its poisoneous snakes that could strike at me or any of my animals and hurt anyone. If its a regular non poisoneous snakes, I still get creeped out, but I try not to kill them or if small enough I relocate it down the street into woods or beg a friend to help. Copperheads, endangered or not, I do NOT want on the property much less a common area that I frequent (the garden). This one was pretty large. The guy that does my yard service year before last said he saw a very large copperhead but he was unable to get it with his weed whacker It had ducked under something. I'm hoping this was the same one that got caught and killed last year and hoping they don't run in packs. :cds:

cricketmd · Feb 25, 2015

huntr1 said:
I don't know if it's true or not, but black snakes are supposed to keep copperheads away. Both are good for keeping rodents under control. That being said, I'd rather have a black snake around the property than a copperhead. We've only seen 1 at our place, and it was squished in the road out front. Thankfully, because it was a biggun. But the safe bet is where you see one, expect to see more. Not as in the exact spot, but on the same property.

Thanks! I never liked black snakes either until the copperhead visit. Now I almost welcome them if they kill copperheads. Black snakes seem more timid. From my experience, copperheads don't seem to fear people at all and are not "more afraid of you then you are them".

ArkRescue · Feb 25, 2015

cricketmd said:
Thanks! I never liked black snakes either until the copperhead visit. Now I almost welcome them if they kill copperheads. Black snakes seem more timid. From my experience, copperheads don't seem to fear people at all and are not "more afraid of you then you are them".

My helper with the horses doesn't like snakes at all. He was driving the pick-up and tried to aim and run over one that was in the road, I was like NO DON'T KILL IT! That poor snake realized something was coming and hauled butt to get across the road. I don't care for the poisonous ones either, but when I came across a baby copperhead when I was cleaning the horse stall, I put it in the nearby woods and told it not to come back (in a stern voice) lol. I fully realized that with finding 1 baby, I was likely to come across many more, but I never saw any more that year.

DoWhat · Feb 25, 2015

cricketmd said:
Does anyone know if Copperheads run in packs or anything similar?

Yes, they do nest together while young.
I have killed many in our years at our house, but fewer since clearing away brush in the backyard.

We also have a lot of black snacks. The myth about black snacks eating copperheads is false.

Any other questions?

Hank · Feb 25, 2015

DoWhat said:
Yes, they do nest together while young.
I have killed many in our years at our house, but fewer since clearing away brush in the backyard.

We also have a lot of black snacks. The myth about black snacks eating copperheads is false.

Any other questions?

Beer?

DoWhat · Feb 25, 2015

Hank said:
Beer?

Budlight.

Roman · Feb 25, 2015

DoWhat said:
Yes, they do nest together while young.
I have killed many in our years at our house, but fewer since clearing away brush in the backyard.

We also have a lot of black snacks. The myth about black snacks eating copperheads is false.

Any other questions?

I have a question DW. Is it true that Black Snakes can breed with Copperheads? I heard this over the summer.

mamatutu · Feb 25, 2015

Black snacks! :lol:

We had a baby copperhead on our deck just before winter, but I couldn't bring my self to kill it.

DoWhat · Feb 25, 2015

Roman said:
I have a question DW. Is it true that Black Snakes can breed with Copperheads? I heard this over the summer.

No.

Reproduction

Both sexes reach sexual maturity at four years when they are about two feet in length. The breeding season is from February to May and from August to October. Males seek out sexually active females using their tongue to detect pheromones in the air. Once he has located a female, the male begins moving his head or rubbing his chin on the ground. Eventually, after courtship, the male aligns his body with hers. This courtship may last for an hour or more if the female does not respond. After being sufficiently stimulated, the female lifts and arches her tail and lowers the scale that covers her cloaca. Then the male arches his body and tail, everting one of his two hemipenes and mates with the female. Mating time varies; ranging from as long as 3.5 to 8.5 hours. The long mating time could correlate with the fact that females usually only mate with one male per year. During the mating period, males produce a pheromone that makes the female unattractive to other males, which pay little or no attention to mating or just mated females. Females also have little interest in mating after a long, successful first mating.

Females that breed in autumn store the sperm until after emerging from a hibernating site. The length of time that the sperm can be stored appears to differ depending on where it is being stored. If the sperm is stored in the cloaca, it lasts a relatively short time, whereas if it is stored in the upper end of the oviducts in vascular tissues specialized as seminal receptacles it seems to last much longer. Copperheads have a gestation period of three to nine months. They are a live-bearing snake, typically producing two to ten young; larger females produce larger broods. After birth, the female provides no direct care for the young.

Females are ovoviviparous (eggs develop in the body of the female and hatch within or immediately after being expelled). They produce large, yolk-filled eggs and store the eggs in the reproductive tract for development. The embryo, during this time, receives no nourishment from the female, only from the yolk. The young are expelled in a membranous sac and weigh less than an ounce (28 g) and measure seven to ten inches (17.8 to 25 .4 cm) in length

mamatutu · Feb 25, 2015

The copperhead bite is not usually fatal in adults, but very painful and often lasting discomfort is the result.

http://www.copperhead-snake.com/

Vince · Feb 26, 2015

Just watch out for the babies. When they bite, they don't control their venom. They give you all of it....or so I'm told.

Roman · Feb 26, 2015

Vince said:
Just watch out for the babies. When they bite, they don't control their venom. They give you all of it....or so I'm told.

I've heard that the babies venom is stronger than the adults.

Roman · Feb 26, 2015

Thank you DoWhat!

DoWhat said:
No.

Reproduction

Both sexes reach sexual maturity at four years when they are about two feet in length. The breeding season is from February to May and from August to October. Males seek out sexually active females using their tongue to detect pheromones in the air. Once he has located a female, the male begins moving his head or rubbing his chin on the ground. Eventually, after courtship, the male aligns his body with hers. This courtship may last for an hour or more if the female does not respond. After being sufficiently stimulated, the female lifts and arches her tail and lowers the scale that covers her cloaca. Then the male arches his body and tail, everting one of his two hemipenes and mates with the female. Mating time varies; ranging from as long as 3.5 to 8.5 hours. The long mating time could correlate with the fact that females usually only mate with one male per year. During the mating period, males produce a pheromone that makes the female unattractive to other males, which pay little or no attention to mating or just mated females. Females also have little interest in mating after a long, successful first mating.

Females that breed in autumn store the sperm until after emerging from a hibernating site. The length of time that the sperm can be stored appears to differ depending on where it is being stored. If the sperm is stored in the cloaca, it lasts a relatively short time, whereas if it is stored in the upper end of the oviducts in vascular tissues specialized as seminal receptacles it seems to last much longer. Copperheads have a gestation period of three to nine months. They are a live-bearing snake, typically producing two to ten young; larger females produce larger broods. After birth, the female provides no direct care for the young.

Females are ovoviviparous (eggs develop in the body of the female and hatch within or immediately after being expelled). They produce large, yolk-filled eggs and store the eggs in the reproductive tract for development. The embryo, during this time, receives no nourishment from the female, only from the yolk. The young are expelled in a membranous sac and weigh less than an ounce (28 g) and measure seven to ten inches (17.8 to 25 .4 cm) in length

Copperhead Question

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