Cottonmouth Vs Copperhead Sssensational Differences To Know

Many times, in bushes, or water, or in our gardens we encounter snakes with a varying range of colors, maybe dark brown, black, grey, any darker shades, or even colorful ones (yellow, orange, green).They are carnivorous reptiles without legs and have elongated bodies. You can find them crawling around in their natural habitat.These wildlife creatures basically belong to the suborder of serpentes, the reptiles. You’ll find a range of nearly 2,900 snake species all over the world. The primarily known common snakes are cottonmouth and copperhead, which are known for their venomous snakebites. Most of the snakes are identified from the crossbands or the color variation. For example, the cottonmouths are covered with darker crossbands on their body whereas the other has tan or brown hourglass-shaped crossbands on their body.The copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) and cottonmouth also known as water moccasin (Agkistrodon piscivorus) comprise the most venomous snakebites that are found in the southern United States. Out of these two venomous snakes, the cottonmouth snake is considered the most venomous snake having a more potent venom. Whereas the copperheads are less venomous when compared to cottonmouths. You will often hear arguments about whether the copperhead bites need to be treated with antivenom or not. Cottonmouths have a lifespan of about ten years, while they have a lifespan of about eighteen years.Both the copperhead and the juvenile cottonmouth snakes have a similar appearance of dark brown color. Thus, they seem to be similar at a first glance, and hence people find them confusing. In the following article related to the snakes, you’ll get to know the differences between a cottonmouth and a copperhead snake, this will help you to identify them when you spot one of them the next time.Afterward, also read about gopher snake vs rattlesnake and fastest snake in the world.How do you tell the difference between a copperhead and a cottonmouth?When you see a cottonmouth, you’ll recognize it from its appearance as it has a triangular head with a thick body whereas the copperhead has a copper-red color head. The venom of the cottonmouth is dangerous and they attack vulnerably but the copperhead’s venom is mild and when they bite it causes severe pain.They only bite if they feel threatened. The cottonmouths are found mostly in water whereas the copperheads are found in rocky areas, woods, and mountainous regions. Copperheads and cottonmouths can also be identified from their defense mechanisms, that is, the cottonmouths open their mouth when threatened and show their white color mouth, whereas the copperheads very few times open their mouth and the color inside is pinkish. Cottonmouths bite very rarely. There is a range of places like the Southern US and parts of the Midwest of the United States, where you can find both the types of snakes—the cottonmouths and the copperheads.They are also found in the western region i.e, Texas. In some places of the world, only one of them is found. Like the eastern cottonmouth, you can find it in or near Florida, but the copperheads are very rarely seen there. Whereas you’ll find the copperheads in the northeastern United States but not the western cottonmouths.Are moccasins and copperheads the same?No, they are not similar. People may find them confusing as they have probably got the same appearance of brown color. But Copperheads are smaller than the water moccasins and grow up to a length of 30 in (76.2 cm), and you’ll find the copperhead females have more length than the males.Whereas the water moccasin is usually 30-48 in (75-120 cm) in length and some of them grow much larger. The male moccasins are larger than the females. Both of them, along with the rattlesnakes and the pit vipers, are found in the southeastern USA and in North America. All these snakes along with vipers are venomous and their bite may cause pain but never cause deaths. The water moccasins are mainly aquatic but are also found on the land, unlike the copperheads.The Difference In Their DietCopperheads are primarily referred to as the ambush predators, who hunt by waiting for prey hiding behind the bushes, and then when they arrive, they bite them. The copperhead has a tendency to allow the animals to run off to die, and they don’t chew or scratch them. The snake tracks its hunt by means of heady fragrance and finds them dead and ready to eat.Copperheads may also use their yellowtail as a worm-like trap for amphibians, tempting them near. The copperhead’s venom is hemolytic and causes heavy bleeding. They also hunt down Small mammals, reptiles, and even amphibians.Cottonmouths aren’t the choosy eaters. Their food consists of fish, amphibians, birds, rodents, and different snakes. Their venom had the ability to kill their prey. They feed on the flesh of even useless animals without hesitating. These snakes are under the category of cannibalistic. Shedding of their skins occurs at different times in a year according to their food habits. Cottonmouths are opportunistic feeders and are regarded to devour quite a few aquatic and terrestrial animals, along with amphibians, lizards, snakes, and also smaller cottonmouths. They also feed on small turtles, child alligators, mammals, birds, and fish.Behavior And AggressivenessThough cottonmouths are very aggressive creatures, still they rarely bite human beings. These snakes bravely stand and don’t run away when under threat, unlike other snakes. When Cottonmouths feel threatened, they coil their bodies and keep their mouths wide open.Their mouth is white in color inside and when they open their mouth they are very clearly visible as they have a dark-colored body of black or dark brown color. Hence this acts as a defense mechanism when under threat. In this way, they warn the predators. They have a potent poison. Whereas the Copperheads run away when they feel the threat. They severely avoid biting people.These snakes are not aggressive like the cottonmouths. When they are under threat they just freeze down, they can’t even slither during that time. Human beings are only bitten by the copperheads when they stamp on them unknowingly. These snakes are well known for their camouflage ability. They can easily lie on leaves and red clay and no one is able to notice them. They have the ability to vibrate their tail the fastest, i.e., 40 times in a second.Misidentification Of The TwoWhen you see a young cottonmouth snake which is dark brown in color it is often confused with a copperhead. Many times the radiated rat snakes, sharp-nosed pit vipers are thought of as copperheads only due to their copper red-colored head. Both of them have similar patterns on their body.Copperheads have the pattern of Hershey kisses chocolate and the shapes are prominent in some parts, whereas in some parts, mainly in the western portion the Hershey kisses lose their shape. Some of the shapes appear to be orange in color. The cottonmouths also have a similar characteristic shape but they are messier. Both the babies of copperheads and cottonmouths have striking colored yellow and green tails.You can identify the adult ones as the cottonmouths with age lose their distinct pattern and change from brown to uniform black snakes, whereas the adult copperheads have the same pattern throughout. The cottonmouths also have a dark bar that is present in between the eyes, whereas the copperheads do not have the dark bar on them.How do you tell if a snake is a cottonmouth? The snakes, Cottonmouths which are commonly known as water moccasins, are the venomous ones, which are found in the southern United States and in North America. These snakes usually grow up to 91.44 cm (36 in) and even more. They have a very impressive appearance. They have a thick and bulky body, compared to any other northern water snakes, both having the same length. Northern water snakes are confused with these.They have short and thick tails. Their body structure is a bit different, as the neck region is tapered hence the heat looks bigger and wider than the neck. The head is arrow-shaped and seems almost triangular when viewed from the top. Many snakes have a tendency to make their appearances larger when they face danger, like the non-venomous snakes who flatten their heads when danger approaches. Thus by seeing the head structure of the cottonmouth, you should not identify them, you may be mistaken.Difference In Diet And Feeding BehaviorThough both of them are carnivores, they have different feeding behavior. The adult copperheads feed on mostly mice, small birds, lizards, insects, amphibians, and even small snakes. They are usually considered ambush hunters who have the ability to control the prey with their venom and then swallow them whole.But when they attack the large prey, the Copperheads bite them and release them so that the venom affects their bodies and they are able to track them later. Whereas, they hold smaller prey in their mouth till they die. The young copperheads mostly feed on small insects like the caterpillars and they attract their prey with the help of the yellow-tipped tails.Whereas the cottonmouth feeds on frogs and fishes. They catch the prey and hold it in their mouth so that the venom affects the prey completely. The cottonmouths, while catching mammals, bite and release them so they do not bite back. They have the capability of hunting both on land and water. They use two different methods to do so. The first method is, they locate the prey and chase them and catch them. The next method is the ambush one. In this method, they hide and wait for the prey. When the prey arrives near them, they leap out and bite them. They cause deadly bites. They can even track the prey from the smell which has been bitten by them.Which is worse, cottonmouth or copperhead?If you compare a cottonmouth to a copperhead, you’ll find that cottonmouth, which is also referred to as the water moccasin, causes a bite that is very much more dangerous and more harmful to humans than the bite that is caused by the copperhead, and that bite rarely causes deaths. You’ll also find that the cottonmouth is very aggressive when compared to the copperhead.They bite only when they feel they are under attack or are actually touched. The poison of cottonmouth snakes has enzymes in it, which causes local tissue necrosis and even coagulopathy. They also have the capability to kill human beings. According to studies, cottonmouths are considered the most feared venomous snakes found in North America. The powerful cytotoxic venom present in them is very destructive and can even eat away flesh and hence result in grisly amputations also. These snakes prefer to hide in water and they attack very unexpectedly with bites and these bites are very frequent.The mating season of these adults is usually between April to May. Both of them reach their maturity at the age of four. They also have a fall mating period which occurs for the adults during the month of September. During the mating period, the Copperhead males seek out their female snakes using their tongues and detecting the pheromones. While the cottonmouth males attract the female snakes using their tails. These males even compete with each other for their females.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for cottonmouth vs copperhead then why not take a look at Florida snake identification, or Copperhead snake Facts

Many times, in bushes, or water, or in our gardens we encounter snakes with a varying range of colors, maybe dark brown, black, grey, any darker shades, or even colorful ones (yellow, orange, green).