Facts About Rattle, Cottonmouth, Water, Copperhead Snakes

Here are some interesting facts you may or may not have known before about our slithering friends.

1. The cottonmouth snake got its name from the milky white interior seen when the mouth is wide open during defensive poses. 2. Baby rattlesnakes are more venomous than adult rattlesnakes due to they don't have any control over the amount of venom that is injected. 3. Copperhead snakes freeze in its current position when it's caught unaware. Since the snake doesn't flee, that's why the bites are most common. A person who steps on it or around it doesn't know the snake is there because it has frozen in position. 4. Baby snakes are on their own once born. There is no staying in the nest or near its mother. 5. A copperhead's venom carries an enzyme, contortrostatin, which has been discovered to inhibit the growth of cancer cells. 6. Cottonmouth, rattlesnakes and copperheads have a heat sensing facial pit between their eyes and nostrils. The pits can detect minute differences in temperatures, so they can accurately strike the source of heat which is often prey. 7. Rattlesnake babies does not have rattlers as the adults do. Those rattles warn the danger of being too close and since the babies don't have any, they are even more dangerous than the adults. The rattles start every time the snake sheds up to however long they live for. 8. Snakes can leap at you the length of themselves. For example, if you encounter a rattlesnake and the snake feels threatened, then the snake can jump at you the length of its body. So if the rattlesnake is 4 ft long, then it can leap at you 4 ft. 9. Rattlesnakes has their fangs in the rear of their mouth; however, other snakes has them at the front. This is why their head is shaped like a triangle. 10. A snake can lay between 5-15 babies in one birth. If you suspect or have seen that you have a snake around or even in your home, give Elite Wildlife Removal a call at 804-867-7184.