This is the moment a venomous southern copperhead snake is spotted completely camouflaged hiding among a forest carpet of leaves.
The video was recorded by Isaiah Lieberenz in the state of Louisiana, located in Southern US, on March 19, 2022.
The video shows the woodland ground almost completely covered in leaves until Isaiah started to zoom in and the copperhead snake – or Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix – emerges nestling motionless in the leaves.
He then used a snake hook to get the reptile -a type of pit viper – closer.
Outdoorsman Isaiah -18, from Chicago, Illinois – gave Newsflash an interview where he spoke about himself, the video and the snake.
He said: “Copperheads are a generally pretty common snake in that area and tend to keep to themselves when possible”
“When human encounters do occur the best way not to get bitten is to just leave them alone.”
He added: “I’m experienced in handling snakes and I always act accordingly when I come across venomous or potentially dangerous ones, and the individual in this video was not super defensive.”
Isaiah has an Instagram page where he posts his encounters with both reptiles and amphibians.
The southern copperhead has a painful bite but almost never fatal to humans.
Copperheads give no warning signs and strike almost immediately if they feel threatened.
They have hemotoxic venom, which means that a copperhead bite results in temporary tissue damage in the immediate area of bite.
Copperhead snakes are the most common type of snake throughout the United States.
They are listed as a species of Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, as per 2007.
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below.
Story By: Pol F, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
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