So I was out poking around Walkabout Estates early this morning, or late at night – whatever, just after midnight – and had gotten a few pics of a subject soon to be featured. I was walking alongside the house right next to the AC condenser when I heard a sharp rustle to my right. I stopped immediately, as always, and looked carefully to see what had caused it. It wasn’t hard to make out.
Yes, that’s a copperhead, an eastern copperhead to be precise (Agkistrodon contortrix,) the only venomous snake in the region, and the first that I’ve found within a ten-kilometer radius – not exactly thrilled to find it within five centimeters of Stately Walkabout Manor here. This is especially so given that, having found only a handful of snakes on the property in the 10 years that we’ve been living here, and none of them remotely dangerous, I am routinely out in sandals or bare feet – tonight it was kind of an outdoor slipper, only a degree better than nothing. Much as I hate the idea, I might have to change that habit.
I had the bright headlamp on, but you can see how well they camouflage and I wasn’t really looking down at my feet anyway, though I do when I’m out in any wooded area that seems likely. This was home – I didn’t think it necessary. Had the snake not coiled suddenly and rustled the leaves, I might never have seen it, and I was walking on the path that’s just over a meter from this spot.
Yes, this is defensive posture, “coiled to strike” as overdramatic accounts will put it, though more often it results in the snake simply beating a hasty retreat. Let’s have a closer look at that head, because it’s great.
I had the Mamiya 80mm macro affixed, so I had a little working distance, and naturally this is cropped significantly – I knew the safe distance, and also knew not to do anything further to provoke it. I’ve been around enough snakes to be pretty mellow about it, even the venomous ones, so of course I was taking photos – the camera was right there in my hands, c’mon! Meanwhile, look carefully at the pinestraw and such in this image, and realize that the snake is a lot smaller than it seems in my photos.
Each of us could have gone our merry way, but I figured that copperheads were one species that we really didn’t want hanging around (especially given my own habits.) I considered my options for a moment, then fetched a broom and an old aquarium that had a proper lid. And the duct tape.
The snake was remarkably easy to get into the aquarium, though it jerked in alarm as I laid the aquarium on its side right in front of the snake, and struck at the broom half-heartedly when I started nudging it – then slipped into the aquarium without any further hesitation. This allowed a little better idea of scale – not a lot, admittedly – but the overall length was roughly 40 cm, certainly under half a meter. That’s about average for the species, and the head could have hidden under a quarter.
I woke The Girlfriend to let her know what I was doing and put her phone alongside the bed, just in case, then drove out to a nice secluded area to release the snake. Which was more difficult than capturing it, to be honest, but that’s not saying a lot, and there were certainly no dicey moments. The snake just didn’t find the area outside the aquarium to be an open invitation – not at all surprising, considering what it had already gone through.
Eventually, I had to tip the aquarium all the way up and slide the snake out, where it sat in mild confusion, requiring me to get the broom again and nudge it on its way. This gives a good view of its namesake, the unpatterned and deep coppery color atop the head, distinguishing it from most other species; even the ones often mistaken for copperheads have markings on their heads.
Even after nudging it, again, to send it on its way, the snake was reluctant to simply dash off, but this gives us a good view of all the markings; note the ‘airbrushed’ appearance of the markings, nice gradient tones within, and a shape like Hershey’s Kisses. Also note that the darker part of the pattern is thinnest along the spine, while the non-venomous snakes in the region all sport darker bands that are wider on the spine than on the sides. The color actually varies only moderately from this, but the base tan is pretty distinctive. What isn’t visible in any of these photos (and not the best way to distinguish them anyway) are the slit, vertical pupils like a cat – all of the non-venomous species in the area have round pupils (except, perhaps, the coral snake, which only occurs coastally and you usually can’t make out the pupils anyway, but it’s not like they’re hard to pick out.)
A word about the taxonomy, because like many other species I’ve featured here, it’s changed since I first started writing about them. There used to be a northern copperhead and southern copperhead in the area, and the way to tell them apart was by examining the patterns near their tail, since the southern variant would have ‘detached’ patterns, not meeting on the spine – you can just make out here that they’re offset but still in contact, which would have made it a northern. However, these have been changed and, according to Wikipedia, both northern and southern variants are now considered eastern. Because, you know, biologists are bound and determined to put “eastern” into every goddamn species name on the east coast; it’s almost like a Tourette’s thing.
Anyway, that was my evening, slightly hearkening back to my animal rescue days, though I’ve had much more thrilling moments during those. I was, and am, more concerned that I really need to be watching my footing around home as distinctly as I do out in the woods. Sheesh.
Meanwhile, the last few posts have been a bit snakey, haven’t they? I’ll try to get to some nice cuddly bugs soon…