Eastern Copperhead
Agkistrodon contortrix
Size
24–36 in
Status
Locally common
Venomous
Yes
Region
Southern half IN
The venomous snake Hoosiers are most likely to encounter, though bites are rare and seldom serious. Well-camouflaged and generally reluctant to strike.
Identification
A tan to pinkish snake with dark, hourglass-shaped crossbands — wide on the sides, narrow across the back. It has a coppery, unmarked head, vertical pupils, and a heat-sensing facial pit. Adults are 2–3 feet; young have a bright yellow tail tip.
Habitat & Diet
Favors rocky, wooded hillsides, ravines, and forest edges in southern Indiana, sometimes near streams such as Sugar Creek farther north. It ambushes rodents, and also takes frogs, insects, and other small prey.
Conservation in Indiana
Locally common in suitable southern Indiana habitat. It is not aggressive; most bites happen when a snake is stepped on or handled. Give it space and it will nearly always retreat.
Similar Species & Taxonomy
Often mistaken for harmless watersnakes, but the Copperhead has distinctive hourglass crossbands, narrow across the back and wide on the sides, an unmarked coppery head, a facial pit, and vertical pupils. A pit viper (family Viperidae). A 2015 genetic study split the copperheads into the Eastern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), now including the former northern and southern subspecies, and the Broad-banded Copperhead (A. laticinctus) of the south-central U.S.
United States Range Map Distribution
Distribution in Indiana
