Osage Copperhead

Description:

Coloration varies in copperheads depending upon where you are. They can be gray, tan, or pinkish tan with hourglass bands that are dark brown. This one is a juvenile and hasn't reached it's full size or coloration yet. To ID juvenile copperheads (and cottonmouths) you can look at their tail-tips which will be yellow or yellow-green. This one was caught in a Sherman mammal trap by accident (must have been checking it out as a good place to hide or else looking for lunch). After releasing it there were no injuries (to us or it) and aside from being a little ticked-off it showed no other reaction to being trapped. We found this one when I worked on the Mofep Project.

Habitat:

Osage copperheads range from southern Nebraska, most of MO, to eastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma. In southern MO they intergrade with the southern copperhead (A. contortrix contortrix) (but are distinguished by wider hourglass markings). This one was found in the Missouri Ozarks, forest.

Notes:

I think I've figured out that proj noah photo software doesnt like vertical photos, but I'm not going to mess with cropping the photo of the sherman trap right now unless somebody argues with me about it.