HOLLOWS, PEEPERS, AND HIGHLANDERS: AN APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN ECOLOGY

20. Copperhead’s Year

133 20 Copperhead’s Year A long Pine Cabin Run — and probably throughout Hampshire County, West Virginia — I am one of those rare humans who is pleasantly surprised to encounter a copperhead. After summer rains, these vipers slither down the hill past our cabin on their way to local frog-hunting grounds. So, I come across them fairly often. Before our daughter Leah arrived, Nancy and I would coax the serpents into a grain sack and covertly release them on a nearby hill. (I hope our neighbors don’t ostracize us now that we’ve gone public.) Then two events converged: Leah learned to toddle, and I researched this essay. We were then confronted by a brutal tradeoff: accept the risk that Leah might be bitten, or kill the copperheads because, if released as before, they would return to their home range — our yard. We settled on the procedure of catching, bagging, and depositing the serpents in the freezer — admittedly not much of a compromise from the snake’s point of view, but at least they seemed to die painlessly and yielded perfect study specimens. Now that Leah is a competent walker, we once again enjoy our copperhead friends basking out by the mailbox, where our daughter exhibits only naïve curiosity toward them. Our risk of death by copperhead bite is far less than that by auto accident, yet of the two, the snake is the one that elicits involuntary shudders. This is perplexing. Although serpents are ingrained evils of our folklore, I will go out on a limb and propose that our reaction to them is learned, not genetically predetermined. After seeing this common reptile in a less evil light, you may even come to appreciate the copperheads you encounter in your Appalachian wanderings. 134 Copperheads spend about half of the year, from late October to mid-April, in hibernation. Dens where several snakes hibernate, called hibernacula, most frequently occupy rocky hilltops with a southern exposure, probably because such sites are warmer and drier than surrounding habitats. The snakes gather peaceably in the autumn , and within the hibernaculum, each individual benefits from the heat and moisture generated collectively. Copperheads coil together when hibernating. In some rock dens, copperheads, timber rattlesnakes, and black racers congregate in mixed-species groups. In this torpid state, their body temperatures may dip to thirty-nine degrees Fahrenheit. Copperheads arouse in the spring when the temperature reaches forty-five to fifty degrees Fahrenheit. After exiting the den, they lie under nearby rocks that hold the warmth of the sun and provide insulation during cool spells. Some individuals remain near their den through the summer; others travel varying distances. Copperheads migrate seasonally between rocky hilltops and lower summering areas . One study found the average distance the snakes traveled between the den and summer sites was 0.4 mile for males and 0.25 mile for females. As summer approaches, copperheads either stay within a clearly delineated home range, near their overwintering site, or abandon the original area for another. Most individuals are “homerangers ,” but of those that move on, males shift more often and farther than females. Home ranges average 1.7 acres for males and 8.9 acres for females, but the actual sizes vary with habitat. Within its home range, a snake seems to wander about in an irregular, circuitous course. Copperheads have two mating seasons, one in the spring (AprMay ), just before females ovulate (May-Jun), and a second in the fall (Sep-Oct). Stored within the female’s reproductive tract, autumnal sperm retain their capacity through winter and into spring. In this way, fall and spring ejaculates from different males can co-occur in a female during vernal ovulation, conditions leading to mixed-paternity clutches. The snakes mate at night, the odor of skin apparently stimulatHollows , Peepers, and Highlanders 135 ing courtship. As with other reptiles, male copperheads have paired copulatory organs, called hemipenes, lodged at the base of the tail and covered with spines. The spines lock the male into the female and irritate the female’s reproductive tract. By locking and irritating , the male precludes mating by other males, reducing competition from other males’ sperm. Since the original version of Hollows was published, herpetologists have come to a better understanding of male combat. During the mating season, large males occasionally entwine, lie outstretched , and struggle for five or ten minutes, each trying to achieve a superior...