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Seven of the 22 documented Copperheads in this report are significant. Significant
records include the documentation of a road-killed Copperhead, in Houston County, in extreme southeastern Alabama, less than
two road miles north of the Florida state line, and is the most northern record in this report. Two more significant
records include the documentation of two road-killed Copperheads in Decatur County, in extreme southwestern Georgia,
less than two air miles north of the Florida state line. Three significant records of the Southern Copperhead are
also included for Jackson County Florida, which increases the westward known range of this species in northwest Florida.
Also an individual, road-killed Copperhead was documented within the town of Blountstown in Calhoun County FL, which
is the most southwestern record in this report. Lastly, the most southern and southeastern Copperhead record
was a road-killed snake c. 6.5 air miles south of Bristol, FL (c. 0.5 miles south of the community of Woods). Lastly, to date I have
filed 15 of the 19 Florida Copperhead records and data with the Florida Natural Areas inventory (FNAI). In
the future I will submit the last four records to FNAI. Additionally, eight of the dead and road
killed animals were collected and preserved. The Calhoun County, FL Copperhead has already been deposited
into the Florida Museum of Natural History. The other seven preserved Copperheads are in my personal collection
now and will later be deposited into the Florida museum. Also, photographs 1 – 6 are of Copperheads
documented within this report. Table 1. Southern Copperhead Locality Data # Date Condition County Location 1 April, 1992 DOR SR 89, 1 mile north Chattahoochee S.P. entrance. 2 30 October, 1993 DOR Blountstown.
SR 69, 1/10 mile north SR 71. Deposited in the FL Museum, UF 91601. 3 24 April, 1994 DOR U.S. Army Corp of Engineer - 4 3 June, 1994 RL 5 18 May, 1999 AOR CR 270, 1.3 miles south of 6 20 May, 1999 DOR TSP.
End of road, across from parking lot of Gregory House. Collected &
preserved. 7 23 May, 1999 DOR TSP.
Through small circle of woods, on road, across from Gregory House parking lot.
Collected & preserved. 8 4 June, 1999 RL TSP.
West side of Gregory House trail, mid way down slope of trail, along primary bluff. 9 15 October, 1999 RL TSP.
Rock Creek Tract (RCT). T2N, R7W, Sec.15.
Near drift fence array C. 10 15 October, 1999 RL TSP, RCT.
T2N, R7W, Sec.22. Old TSP entrance road, near top of hill. 11 16 October, 1999 RL TSP, RCT.
T2N, R7W, Sec.15. Near drift fence array C. 12 20 October, 1999 RD TSP.
Mid way down Gregory House brick walkway. Found dead, recently killed. Collected & preserved. 13 20 October, 1999 DOR 14 22 October, 1999 RL T2N, R7W, Sec.30. North-central section 30. East side of 15 2 November, 1999 DOR 16 12 October, 2000 DOR SR 12, 4/10 mile north Johnson Mill Branch. Collected & preserved. 17 15 June, 2003 DOR T5N, R9W, Sec.2. SR 69, 1.7 miles north of Two Egg. 4.4 miles north CR 164. Snake was still barely alive when found. Collected
& preserved. 18 24 June, 2005 DOR T4N, R8W, Sec. 34. SR69A, 2/10 mile south Jct. SR 69. 19 6 August, 2006 AOR T3N, R7W, Sec. 9. 23 September, 2007 DOR 21 23 September, 2007 AOR 23 September, 2007 DOR AOR SR 59, c. 2 miles south of Tensaw/jct CR 80. AOR. Crossing road west to east. c. 20 inches
total length. About 7:00 pm, no photos. DOR CR 96 (Old Ganey Rd.), 2/10 mile north jct. CR 47.
DOR (did not collect). 2:15 pm. Photographed. Table Summaries: Months Documented Month #
Documented April May 3 June 4 August 1 September 3 October 1 24 Condition of Copperheads AOR = Alive on road DOR = Dead on road 13 RL = Random live encounters 6 RD = Random dead encounters 1 Total 24 Additional
Notes & Observations: The
Copperhead documented on 18 May, 1999 was collected to photograph. I noticed
that this Copperhead was very healthy and quite plump in stature and I suspected it was carrying young. So, I kept this snake in captivity and on 14 September, 1999, between 1000 and 1400 hours, the snake gave
birth to four young. On 23 September, 1999 the young were measured and the following
total body lengths were documented: 206 mm, 211 mm, 212 mm and 213 mm. Photographs
5 and 6 are of the newborn Copperheads. Also,
on 2 October, 1999, one juvenile snake ate one mouse pinky. In early October,
1999 I released the adult female and the four young near the original site that the adult was collected. In April and October, 2009 two additional
Copperheads were documented in Baldwin County, Alabama. Maps 2 & 3 indicate the approximate locations of these snakes.
Copperhead #23 was documented approximately 8 miles northwest of the most northwestern corner of the Florida Panhandle,
in Escambia County, Florida. Copperhead #24 was documented approximately 16 miles northwest of the most northwestern
corner of the Florida Panhandle, in Escambia County, Florida. Both of these records are significant in that they are
two of the most southern documented localities for Copperheads in the State of Alabama. Photo 7 is the DOR Copperhead #24. Acknowledgments: Map
1.
(Below) Photo 2. Adult Southern
Copperhead. Liberty Co., FL.
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