Here are some good keys - and this is from MDNR:
On Thursday, January 9, 2014 11:29:24 AM UTC-5, Leon wrote:
-- non-venomous snake
Round pupils
No sensing pit
Head slightly wider than neck
Divided anal plate
Double row of scales on the underside of the tail
venomous snake
Elliptical pupils
Sensing pit between eye and nostril
Head much wider than neck
Single anal plate
Single scales on the underside of the tail
Pattern, head shape, body size, etc. are very unreliable for most people (myself included -- sometimes it's hard to see) in attempting to identify venomous snakes.
The Copperhead is one of my favorites -- it's hard to find a more beautiful snake around here -- they're also very, very easy to work with in the lab like most other pit vipers (pit vipers are very energy-conservative animals, think Homer Simpson). In the field it really is true that if left alone, they are unlikely to even move, let alone wasting energy trying to bite something that isn't prey. Most bites are from people attempting to handle them (usually while drunk according to the statistics), and from people accidentally stepping on them while doing something near a heavily wooded area. A buddy of mine working at the Springfield Conservation Nature Center in Springfield, MO was bitten while assisting someone in the field, but it was his own fault by his admission. Other than swelling and pain, not much else typically happens.
Gene
On Thursday, January 9, 2014 11:29:24 AM UTC-5, Leon wrote:
Whoa, for a second I thought that was a copperhead!I found this from the Virginia Herpetology Society, though: "however the pattern on the northern watersnake is always narrow on the sides and wide near the backbone. This is completely opposite of the pattern found on the copperhead (wide on the sides and narrow near the back bone). "
On Saturday, December 14, 2013 4:19:48 PM UTC-5, TAEHWAN KIM wrote:I fished the out going tide at 4MR today with small popper.
I caught a bluegill on the fourteenth consecutive cast. I must have gotten more than fifty bluegill on the popper and with a bonus, the hefty crappie and bass. As I was leaving the area, a TPFR member, Josh hooked up with a nice sucker on a #6 or 8 clouser. Way to go Josh!!!!
The 3~4 weight rod with small popper will produce action all day !!!!!!
Tight Lines,
Todd
http://www.tpfr.org
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