Pit Viper - Pit Vipers

The northern copperhead is a large, social, venomous snake pit viper found across the eastern United States in terrestrial and semiaquatic habitats. Physical Description Copperheads are thick-bodied snakes with keeled scales. The northern copperhead has an unmarked, copper-colored head and reddish-brown, coppery body with chestnut brown crossbands. The bands are mostly hourglass-shaped, with the wider portions of the shape on either side of the snake’s body and the narrower part of the shape crossing the snake’s back over the tailbone. Young copperheads pit viper are grayer in color compared to adults and have a sulfur yellow-tipped tail, which fades over time and is lost by age 3 or 4. The northern copperhead as a vertical pupil and a single row of scales on the underside of its body after the anal plate — features also found on some venomous snakes in Virginia. The copperhead is a pit viper and, like others pit vipers, it has heat-sensitive pit organs on each side of its head between

  The timber rattlesnake — also called the American viper, black rattlesnake, eastern rattlesnake, timber rattler and canebrake — is a large pit viper with a wide distribution across the eastern half of the U.S. Physical Description These large, heavy pit vipers vary in coloration. They are gray, sometimes with a pinkish hue and have a stripe down their back. This stripe is orange, yellow or pinkish in some timber rattlesnakes, while others have a brown or black stripe. Both morphs, or variations in color, have darker or black coloration at the tip of their tail and dark stripes that form a chevron pattern along the back and sides of the snake. This distinct pattern and coloration helps the timber rattlesnake Pit Viper camouflage among the vegetation on the ground. Loose sections of the tail made of keratin (the same substance as human hair and fingernails) form the characteristic rattles or “buttons” at the tip of the timber rattlesnake’s tail. When threatened, it props itself up and

  One of the smallest venomous snakes in Central America, the eyelash palm   pit viper   is named for the bristly scales above its eyes. Physical Description The eyelash palm pitviper is named for the bristly scales above its eyes. It looks like it has a hood or eyelashes over its eyes. It can be easily recognized by its color and triangular head. They may be yellow, green or pinkish depending on where they come from. Their scales are keeled so they are rough and sharp to the touch. Their rough scales may help to protect them against the branches and vines of their arboreal habitat, unlike most snakes whose scales are smooth. They have a pair of heat-sensitive pits between the eyes and nostrils. Its pupils are long vertical slits. Size It is one of the smallest venomous snakes in Central America measuring only up to 2.5 feet (76 centimeters) and averaging about 22 to 32 inches (56 to 81 centimeters). Native Habitat Eyelash palm  pit vipers  range from southern Mexico through Central Am