IDENTIFICATION
Agkistrodon c. laticinctus is a stout-bodied snake that somewhat resembles the Trans-Pecos Copperhead with its straight-edged, squarish crossbands. These reddish brown or chesnut colored crossbands are almost as broad across the back as they are on the sides and they may sometimes have a narrow pinkish or white border. The narrow spaces between the crossbands are a pale shade of brown or tan. The tip of the tail is a grayish-green color and the head is rather broad. The scales are weakly keeled and the anal plate is undivided. The mid-body scale count is usually 23. Young specimens are generally more of a grayish color with the tip of the tail being yellow.
SIZE
Adults measure 22 to 30 inches. The record size for the Broad-Banded Copperhead is 37¼ inches.
RANGE
This species ranges across the central Texas northward into central Oklahoma. At the western extreme of its range in Texas, Agkistrodon contortrix laticinctus intergrades with Agkistrodon contortrix pictigaster. At the eastern extreme of its range in central and northcentral Texas, it intergrades with Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix.
DISTRIBUTION IN TEXAS
This species has been recorded from the following Texas counties: Aransas, Atascosa, *Austin, Bandera, Bastrop, Bell, Bexar, Bosque, *Brazoria, *Brazos, *Burleson, Burnet, *Collin, Colorado, Comal, Cooke, Coryell, *Dallas, Denton, Dimmit, **Edwards, *Falls, Fayette, Frio, Gonzales, *Grayson, Guadalupe, Hamilton, Hays, *Hopkins, Johnson, *Kaufman, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney, Lampassas, Lavaca, *Lee, *Leon, Llano, *McLennan, *Madison, Mason, *Matagorda, Medina, *Milam, Montague, *Morris, Palo Pinto, Parker, **Reagan, Real, *Robertson, San Saba, Shackelford, *Smith, Somervell, Tarrant, Taylor, Throckmorton, *Titus, Travis, Uvalde, **Val Verde, Victoria, Williamson, Wilson, Young.
(*) Agkistrodon contortrix laticinctus and Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix intergrade in these counties.
(**) The Reagan County record, the record from northeastern Val Verde County and another from Edwards County appear to be Agkistrodon c. laticinctus x pictigaster.
HABITAT
The Broad-Banded Copperhead occurs along streambeds, river lowlands and also in live oak, post oak and juniper areas along rocky ledges and bluffs. They frequent rotten logs, wood piles, compost and leaf piles, and often show up in residential areas. During the 1960s while involved in military training at Fort Hood near Gatesville in central Texas we commonly found these snakes in our kitchen tent, sleeping bags, and between pieces of equipment stored in our supply tent.
FOOD
This species feeds on mice, small birds, lizards, frogs, toads and occasionally large insects such as cicada nymphs and caterpillars.
BEHAVIOR
Agkistrodon c. laticinctus may be active during the day in the spring of the year. During the warmer summer months they appear to be more active at night, especially after a rain. They are not especially aggressive snakes and when approached they will often remain motionless and rely on their camouflage coloration to keep them concealed. Even though they are not normally aggressive, when threatened or provoked the Broad-Banded Copperhead will strike at the source of its danger with a quick lunge of the head.
REPRODUCTION
Courtship and breeding may occur either during the spring or in the late fall. Broad-Banded Copperheads are live-bearers, giving birth to 3 to 11 young during during late summer or early fall. The young measure from 8 to 10 inches at birth and resemble the adults except for their overall grayish coloration and the yellowish tip of the tail.
REMARKS
The bite of the Broad-Banded Copperhead requires immediate medical attention and can have serious medical consequences especially for children, even though human fatalities from bites by this species are rare. Although human deaths resulting from copperhead bites are extremely rare and infrequent they do occur. The June 27, 2006 edition of the Bryan-College Station (Tx) Eagle reported that the former police chief of Madisonville (Madison County) Texas had died on June 24, 2006 after being bitten on the ankle by a copperhead outside of his home in Madison County. This is believed to be the first documented human fatality from a copperhead bite in Texas in recent years.
LITERATURE CITED
Brown, Bryce C. 1950. An Annotated Check List of the Reptiles and Amphibians of Texas. Baylor University Press, Waco.
Conant, R. and J.T. Collins. 1991. Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern/Central North America, 3rd revised edition. Houghton Mifflin, Co., Boston.
Dixon, James R. 2000. Amphibians and Reptiles of Texas, 2nd edition. Texas A & M Press, College Station.
Gloyd, Howard K. and R. Conant. 1990. Snakes of the Agkistrodon Complex. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles.
Hensley, Laura. The Bryan-College Station Eagle. June 27, 2006 edition. Bryan, Tx.
Werler, John E., and James R. Dixon. 2000. Texas Snakes, Identification, Distribution and Natural History. University of Texas Press, Austin.
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