Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In the last year I have relocated 11 copperheads caught w/in 100 feet of my home. does anyone have any idea the minimum distance for relocation w/o significant risk they will come back. also, can copperheads thrive in longleaf/wiregrass habitat or must it be mixed hardwoods? I usually leave them near a stream cutting through mixed hardwoods surrounded by longleaf pine habitat that is controlled burned every 4 years or so. I hate relocating them. they are so gorgeous, but there really are too many too close to my house and my dog has been bitten 3 times. I am wondering also if they eat more toads than we may think. They actively cruise around in the evening and the only common food source we have are toads. There just arent that many field mice
where I am that would support such a large population.

Copperheads are tremendously adaptable creatures, as evidenced by the fact that they've been able to persist even in suburban neighborhoods in the eastern part of the US...I applaud you for relocating these creatures rather than killing them, and can understand your concern with having them so close to your home and family.

The best things you can do to prevent running into them so often on your property is to make your property as unappealing for them as you can...Keep flowering or fruit producing vegetation well pruned...when the fruit falls off, this can attract copperhead prey if it is allowed to sit there...keep bushes well pruned as well...if you have woodpiles around the home, these are great places for copperheads and copperhead prey to retreat to...you might consider moving your woodpile indoors...

Young copperheads will eat amphibians...even adults will do this...part of what has made them so adaptable is the fact that they will eat a large variety of prey (i.e. amphibians, lizards, rodents, etc.)

Wish I could stop by and take a few off your hands but alas, I am in Az and don't want to violate any laws... Anyway, good luck!

-AzAtrox

"The best things you can do to prevent running into them so often on your property is to make your property as unappealing for them as you can"

C'mon now, I do everything possible to make my 40 acres APPEALING to snakes. Its just that the ratio of hots to nonvenomous is insane. In fact almost every day I see twice as many hots as colubrids (mostly copperheads and cottonmouths).
once again, how far do I need to relocate and not worry they will come back?
I really want to see more of these:

I'm not sure about Agkistrodon, but I do know that Crotalus has definite home ranges, and if one is relocated too far away, mortality is high...I would suspect the same is true for coppers and cottons, but have no evidence indicating this...

When I relocate rattlesnakes from people's houses here in Az, I try to relocate the animal no more than 1/4 of a mile from where it was found...I don't find alot of "repeat customers" with the same snake....

I guess if you're intentionally making your property attractive to snakes, then one can't be too choosy as to what decides to show up....best of luck.

-AzAtrox

I spent last summer studying and relocating Western Rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis) in British Columbia. Studies have shown that in Long-distance Translocations (2km and more) mortality rates are extremely high. I routinely translocated up to 1km (0.6mi) with no observable adverse effects on the individuals. These translocations certainly do not seem to deter them from returning though, and I would sometimes have them back within 2 days. Usually though, it does buy a little more time than that. I'm not sure exactly how this info will pertain to Copperheads, but I would caution against moving them too far.

It's great to hear about someone relocating, as well as creating suitable habitat, so many snakes are killed by intolerant homeowners. I do understand though, the concern about family and pets. Best of luck with whatever course of action you take, hope this has been a little help.

Cheers,
Kyle

Sorry, that should be C. oreganus, not viridis. Must catch up with the changing taxonomy .

Kyle

Kyle, thanks, that was helpful. I believe many species of snakes are very dependent on their acquired knowledge of their immediate habitat and may not be able to relearn quickly enough where they can find food , shelter, and water. Part of me will be very said if I can never find a copperhead on my property again, but when I found 3 crawling around w/in 100 feet of my home one evening I began to wonder if you can have too much of a good thing. BTW, I leave AC all over to attract herps. but I found here in the Southeast you MUST use AMDRO if you get any fire ants moving under the AC. 3 times I have returned to my AC a day after finding a snake and found a snake skeleton because I must have disturbed the ant nest. snakes are sitting ducks for fire ants. use AMDRO bait and save some snakes.

Your're wondering why you have copperheads all over your property and your useing ac to attract herps......
I'm confused?
Nate

I hope I am for real.
I bought 40 acres in Northwest Florida bartially because I love snakes and have herped for over 45 years. I would rather see them in the wild than in deli cups at expos or shoe boxes in my home. BUT, I have herped all over this part of Florida and NEVER seen such a "presumably" lopsided ratio of hots to colubrids.
sure I want snakes under my AC, and I dont mind an occassional EDB, croal snake or copperhead. But when I have seen almost nothing but copperheads within 100 feet of my house, and the creek has a ratio of 10 cottonmouths to each water snake I wonder
what went wrong. I want more diversity and less hots (no offense meant to you hots lovers but too much of a good thing is still too much).

What did you expect by leaving ac all over? The copperheads are probably one of the most prolific species in your area and you just gave them the means to explode in population. by chance how long has your ac been out? The best way to lower the number of coppers would be to remove all the ac and see the post above about triming and tidying up the property. Or again not to be offensive take your role as god and start creating habbitat for the other snakes your looking for, Import crayfish for the water snakes maybe cut down some trees over the creek for basking areas.clear out more of the densly wooded areas to attract pines and easterns,while your at it start a collony of dear mice for everyone else to feed on. Maybe construct a huge hillside with a nice rocky southern facing slope far from your home. Or you could deal with what you created and not throw out anymore ac and be happy with the fact that you helped creat a perfect habitat for coppers.

And now your using insectacide to kill bugs but leave snakes alone, just another enviromental factor your toying with.

I don't know exactly where I'm going with this but your not going to get rid of the coppers without getting rid of the other snakes aswell.

Awesome pics by the way.
Nate

whats ac?

when you put out sheets of plywood/tin to give snakes something to hide under.

we all here agree that lots of snakes is a good thing. I never asked how to get rid of my copperheads. I just asked how far to relocate so I dont kill them and so they dont return. I would like to pick up the AC (artificial cover) and see something other than copperheads once in a while. A couple eastern kings with stuffed bellies would be nice (LOL). glad you liked my photos. here are some more.

the scarlet snake is very close to coral looking i can see how it can be mistaken at first glance espacaly with the almost black head and hes gourgeous

oops ment scarlet king

you are correct;this elapsoides would warrant a second look before grabbing in the wild.

This may be a stupid question but what is AC and how does it attract snakes?