Why Fall Is a Dangerous Time for Copperheads in Missouri

If you live in Missouri, you should always be aware of the presence of Copperhead snakes, but it's even more important during the Fall months for a tiny yet deadly reason.

This is a Copperhead, one of Missouri's most venomous snakes

Arnaud Padalle via Unsplash

There's an interesting new deep dive into the world of Copperheads that's just been shared by World Atlas. There are several points they bring up that I think are important to fully understand. Copperhead females don't lay eggs. They give birth to live babies and this happens in Autumn. Very little nurturing goes on during the week or two that Copperhead babies linger near their mother. In a very short period of time, the babies go their own way which means you suddenly have anywhere from 6 to 12 baby Copperheads that split up and go in different directions. As their article mentions, these young snakes many times don't understand yet what areas are safe and which are not which increases the chances they'll venture into a place where people are.

There is one myth about baby Copperheads that gets passed along frequently

I have learned that it is not true that baby Copperheads are more venomous than their adult counterparts. They have smaller venom glands than adult Copperheads. However, it's the sheer number of babies that scatter that makes the Fall months more dangerous for these snakes than any other time of year. Their small size also makes it easy to overlook them in small places. While most Copperhead bites aren't fatal, this is not something you want to end up in the emergency room for.