Northern Cottonmouth vs. Eastern Copperhead

Both are pit vipers of southern Illinois with vertical pupils and a pit, and their young are the hard case: both are banded with a yellow-green tail tip. Look at the side of the head. The Cottonmouth has a dark band running through the eye, edged above by a pale line, from birth; the Copperhead's head is plain copper with no band. The Copperhead's bands are neat hourglasses, narrow over the spine and wide on the sides, on a tan or pinkish snake; the Cottonmouth's are ragged and fade with age until an adult is nearly black.

Photographs via iNaturalist under Creative Commons licences; the photographers are credited on the sheet.

More comparisons

• Northern Cottonmouth vs. Common Watersnake
• Northern Cottonmouth vs. Plain-bellied Watersnake
• Northern Cottonmouth vs. Diamondback Watersnake
• Northern Cottonmouth vs. Mississippi Green Watersnake
• Banded Watersnake vs. Northern Cottonmouth
• Broad-banded Copperhead vs. Northern Cottonmouth
• Brown Watersnake vs. Northern Cottonmouth
• Florida Cottonmouth vs. Northern Cottonmouth
• Florida Green Watersnake vs. Northern Cottonmouth
• Eastern Copperhead vs. Common Watersnake
• Eastern Copperhead vs. Diamondback Watersnake
• Eastern Copperhead vs. Plain-bellied Watersnake
• Banded Watersnake vs. Eastern Copperhead
• Broad-banded Copperhead vs. Eastern Copperhead
• Mole Kingsnake vs. Eastern Copperhead
• Brown Watersnake vs. Eastern Copperhead
• Florida Cottonmouth vs. Eastern Copperhead

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