21 July 2004
Copperheads are pit vipers, named for the pits between the mouth and the eyes. These pits house thermal sensors and are used to locate prey including insects, birds, rodents, lizards, & amphibians.
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Orange Co., NC 21 July 2004 Copperheads are pit vipers, named for the pits between the mouth and the eyes. These pits house thermal sensors and are used to locate prey including insects, birds, rodents, lizards, & amphibians. |
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same individual |
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Orange Co., NC 26 July 2004 Copperheads come in a few different color morphs and a couple of subspecies, but here in the NC piedmont is an intergrade zone. All 4 different individual snakes on this page were photographed from the same location (a research site in Duke Forest). |
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same individual |
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Orange Co., NC 22 Sep 2004 |
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Orange Co., NC 22 Sep 2004 Note the vertical pupils. |
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Orange Co, NC 7 July 2006 Young Copperheads have bright greenish-yellow tail tips. This youngster was maybe 12 inches long at the most. |
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Orange Co, NC 7 July 2006 Close-up of the tail color. |
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Orange Co, NC 7 July 2006 Again, note the vertical pupils that most venomous snakes in NC have. |
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Marsh edge in Currituck Co., NC 6 Nov 2009 Here's another youngster that I almost stepped on. Fortunately the temp was in the 50s and s/he was pretty sluggish. |
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Marsh edge in Currituck Co., NC 6 Nov 2009 |
Created on ... Sep 7, 2004 | Updated on ... July 16, 2006 | jspippen@duke.edu