Summer Heat is Basking time for Copperheads

 

 

Keep your eyes open when you visit the Preserve on these hot summer afternoons.  Hot days and cool nights are the time of year copperheads are active in the woods of North Carolina.  If you aren't a keen observer you might not even know you've walked right by one.

 

 

Copperheads are masters of camouflage, they blend into the leaves on the forest floor. You can be walking the trails at Hemlock Bluffs and a copperhead can be right beside the path.  This isn't usually a problem because during the day, copperheads are typically resting, warming in the sun and gathering their energy for a night of hunting small mammals.  If you don't bother them, they won't bother you.

 

However, if you or your dog come across a copperhead and annoy it (by poking it with a stick, or your dog barking at it), the snake will defend itself and may strike.  Copperheads are normally docile unless provoked, they do not like to waste their venom, but every year people and dogs are bitten in NC (it's rarely deadly).

There are copperheads at Hemlock Bluffs, they are a natural part of the ecosystem.  They are a beautiful snake when you think about how well camouflaged they are in their environment.  They help keep the rodent population in check.  If you see a snake of any sort while you are walking, look at it, admire it and leave it alone.  If you give it a wide berth and walk away, it will leave you alone.  Most importantly, keep pets and children away from any snake.  Help by teaching your children to respect animals in nature, even if you are a little afraid.