ordinary copperhead - a graceful agile snake with a very interesting painting.This reptile is very nimble, able to get up to tricks, to which the majority of her fellow snakes are not able to.Copperhead snake, if it is lifted off the ground by the tail, can dramatically arched, get your head and bite daring offender's fingers.Copperhead spread from Western Siberia to Western Europe, but is more common in the southern regions.
Painting top of her body - beige, brown, brown or gray with longitudinal small dark spots.The belly is gray or brown-brown with a silvery sheen and pattern of dark spots.In males who have reached puberty, the belly is colored orange or brick-red tones.Males are slightly smaller than females.On the back of the head, there are two spots in a diamond shape, which sometimes merge.From the eye to the nostril, and then to the corner of his mouth pulled wide band of dark color.Copperhead snake has round pupils and red-brown iris of the eye with a golden hue.The length of the reptile reaching up to 80 cm. The flaps on the body and tail smooth.
Due to the impressive size and high aggressiveness is often mistaken for the snake and killed a viper.Partly because of this, and partly - because of the deterioration of living conditions, it is listed as endangered.Some people thought that the snake copperhead - venomous and dangerous to humans, but it is not.Yad it is dangerous only for rodents and lizards.From this reptile viper is characterized by a narrow head with a barely noticeable cervical interception, larger shields head, smooth scales and round pupils (from vertical viper).
copperhead snake inhabit the mosaic of dry forests found in overgrown clearings and sunny meadows, edges of dry pine forests, rolling hills loves.Avoid snake shores of ponds and wetlands.Sometimes it can be seen along the roads and railway embankments.Habitats depend on the availability of staple food, which make up for Coronella lizard.
Unlike many other reptiles, smooth snake - a snake territorial, and for many years living on a defined area not exceeding 1 hectare.During copperhead danger tends to hide in the shelter, but it can also defend itself by attacking the offender.Common shelters for her serve pile brushwood, rodent burrows, roots of trees and rotten stumps.
copperhead snake in winter falls asleep and wakes up around the middle of April, when the average daily temperature exceeds 15 ° C.The marriage between her starts in May.It is ovoviviparous snake.The fecundity of females - 5-10 pups.Embryos develop approximately 2.5 months, and the young are born from late July to mid-August.Copperhead is most active during the day, he loves to bask in the sun, especially in the morning.
Total widespread downward trend in the number of snakes because they are the main food of lizards, which have recently themselves become smaller.
This forage base is not as reliable as snakes that feed not only the lizards, but also frogs and small rodents.
copperhead does so only at the extreme lack of the usual feed.During such periods, these reptiles can be observed even cannibalism.In many countries, copperhead snake is protected by law.
