Reptiles

Copperhead

Agkistrodon contortrix · also called eastern copperhead, highland moccasin

Least Concern → carnivore Temperate forest Temperate grassland Rivers & wetlands

The copperhead bites more people in the eastern United States than any other venomous snake, and yet it kills almost none of them. Its coppery, hourglass-banded body vanishes against dead leaves, and its instinct when a foot comes down nearby is to hold still and hope, not to flee or rattle — so people tread on it without ever seeing it.

Overview

The copperhead, Agkistrodon contortrix, is a pit viper of the eastern and central United States, common in deciduous forest, rocky hillsides, old fields, and wooded suburbs. It is a mid-sized ambush hunter of mice, voles, small birds, lizards, frogs, and insects, with a seasonal habit of climbing shrubs to eat cicadas, and young snakes lure prey with a bright yellow tail tip.

Camouflage over warning

The tan-to-pink body crossed by dark hourglass bands — narrow over the spine, wide on the flanks — breaks up the snake’s shape against leaf litter. Unlike most vipers, a cornered copperhead usually stays put and relies on camouflage, which is why most bite victims never saw it.

A mild bite

Copperhead venom is the least potent of the North American pit vipers. A bite is painful and causes real local swelling and bruising, but deaths are extremely rare — roughly zero to one a year in the whole country — and many bites are warning strikes with little venom. Anyone bitten should still go to a hospital, keep still, and remove rings and watches.

Status

Least Concern and stable. Copperheads adapt well to farmland and wooded neighbourhoods, though they are killed in numbers on roads and by people, and destroying a traditional communal den — shared with timber rattlesnakes and rat snakes — can clear snakes from a wide area.

Copperhead: common questions

How dangerous is a copperhead bite?

Less dangerous than its reputation suggests, though it should always be taken seriously. Copperhead venom is the weakest of the North American pit vipers, and although a bite is genuinely painful and typically causes marked swelling, bruising, and blistering around the wound, systemic effects are usually limited and permanent injury is uncommon. Deaths are exceedingly rare, on the order of zero to one per year in the entire United States despite copperheads causing thousands of bites annually. Many bites deliver little venom. Treatment is often supportive care and observation, with antivenom reserved for severe swelling, bites to a hand or foot with progression, or bites in children and frail patients. Anyone bitten should still go straight to a hospital, keep the limb still, remove rings and watches, and avoid tourniquets, cutting, or ice.

Why do people get bitten by copperheads so often?

Two reasons. First, copperheads are abundant in exactly the places people spend time, including wooded backyards, garden beds, woodpiles, hiking trails, and the leaf-littered edges of parks throughout the eastern states. Second, their defensive strategy is to freeze and trust their camouflage rather than to flee or give a warning like a rattlesnake. A copperhead lying motionless on brown leaves is nearly invisible, so people step on one, kneel next to one while gardening, or reach a hand near one without ever knowing it is there, and the snake bites in defence at the last moment. Most copperhead bites are to the lower leg, ankle, foot, or hand and happen within a metre of the person's home or on a trail.

What is the difference between a copperhead and a cottonmouth?

They are close relatives in the same genus and are often confused, especially since young cottonmouths are strongly patterned and coppery. Copperheads are land snakes of forests and hillsides, with a clean coppery head, a pattern of well-defined hourglass bands that are narrow on top and wide on the sides, and no dark facial stripe in most populations. Cottonmouths are semi-aquatic, found in and around water, are darker and heavier-bodied, usually have a distinct dark band through the eye, gape to show the white lining of the mouth when threatened, and often swim with the head raised and body riding high. A snake basking on a log over water that throws its mouth open is a cottonmouth, not a copperhead.

What should I do if I find a copperhead in my yard?

Leave it alone and give it room. Most copperhead bites happen when people try to kill or move the snake, and a snake that is simply passing through will usually be gone within a day. Keep children and pets away from the area, and watch where it goes if you can do so from a safe distance. If it has settled somewhere you cannot avoid, such as by a doorway, call a local wildlife removal service or animal control rather than dealing with it yourself. To make a property less attractive to copperheads, remove brush piles, log stacks, and sheet debris, keep grass short, control rodents, and seal gaps under sheds and porches where snakes shelter.

Sources & further reading

Written by HideShark Editorial Team · reviewed by HideShark Science Desk. Published September 10, 2026. Last updated September 10, 2026.

Quick facts

Scientific name: Agkistrodon contortrix
Diet: Mostly small mammals such as mice and voles, along with small birds, lizards, frogs, and other snakes, and a notable seasonal habit of climbing into trees and shrubs to eat cicadas during large emergences, with juveniles taking many insects and using a bright yellow tail tip as a lure to draw prey within striking range
A camouflage pattern: The copperhead's tan to pinkish ground colour crossed by darker hourglass or dumbbell-shaped bands, narrow across the spine and wide on the flanks, breaks up its outline against dead leaves so well that most people who are bitten never saw the snake and stepped on or beside it
The most-bitten-by snake in the eastern US: Copperheads account for the largest share of venomous snakebites across much of the eastern United States, partly because they are common in wooded suburbs and partly because, unlike most vipers, a cornered copperhead often stays put and relies on camouflage rather than fleeing or rattling a warning
A relatively mild venom: Copperhead venom is the least potent of the North American pit vipers, and while a bite is painful and causes significant local swelling, bruising, and tissue damage, deaths are extremely rare, antivenom is often withheld for milder cases, and most healthy adults recover fully
Warning bites and dry bites: A defensive copperhead frequently delivers a warning strike with little or no venom, and a meaningful proportion of bites inject very little, which is one reason outcomes are usually mild, though children, older people, and anyone bitten on the hand or face should always be assessed at a hospital
They den communally: In the northern part of the range copperheads spend winter in rock crevices and hillside dens, often sharing the site with timber rattlesnakes and black rat snakes, returning to the same den year after year and basking together at the entrance in spring and autumn
Live birth, with a musky defence: Females give birth in late summer to a litter of around 4 to 10 young, each about 20 cm long and fully venomous, and a handled or frightened copperhead of any age releases a pungent musk from glands at the base of the tail that smells faintly of cucumber
Range: The eastern and central United States, from southern New England and New York west to Nebraska and south to the Gulf Coast and into the trans-Pecos region of Texas, in deciduous and mixed forest, rocky wooded hillsides, forest edges, old fields, canyon bottoms, and the wooded margins of swamps and streams, and readily persisting in wooded residential neighbourhoods within its range.
Conservation status: Least Concern → ≈ The copperhead is common and widespread across the eastern United States, adapts well to farmland and wooded suburbs, and is assessed as Least Concern with a stable overall population, though it is killed in large numbers on roads and deliberately by people, and localised declines occur where forest is cleared or where traditional communal dens are disturbed or destroyed, since the loss of a single den can remove the snakes from a wide surrounding area in the wild