Copperhead

Our last field trip of the semester was to the Donnelley Wildlife Management Area. It was a hot, sunny day as we made our trek through the forests and swamps in search of specimens. We found a lot of cool stuff, but I decided that I still wanted to see a venomous snake and I had yet to see one all semester. In our second to last stop, we had all spread out, some of us were in the water with nets and others were searching in the undergrowth of the forest. I did not have any sort of net, so I decided to look under logs and such for specimens. I was walking near a tree stump looking for snakes when I saw it. It was a Copperhead snake, Agkistrodon contortrix. It was probably about 60 centimeters long and it was coiled up next to a tree root. I could tell that it was a Copperhead because it had a large triangular head, a coppery-red colored head and the typical hourglass pattern down its back. I started to back away slowly when it struck out. Luckily, I was far enough away that it still had at least another 40 cm before it could have sunk its teeth into my leg. As soon as it struck, I started moving back a little faster than I thought was possible, but it seemed that the snake was as scared of me as I was of it. It retreated into a little hole in the root system nearby and I stood there for awhile, trying to catch my breath. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to take a picture of the snake, but I will always have the mental picture of the snake's open mouth as it lunged for my calf. This was definitely the highlight of the class and I can now check off my goal of seeing a venomous snake in the wild.

Andrew See

Charleston, SC