Do angry copperheads smell like cucumber? Expert lays out facts about venomous snakes

Spring is sprung, and across the country copperheads are unfurling their scaly bodies after months of brumation (hibernation, but for reptiles) and slithering to and fro, underfoot, well-hidden and full of venom.

The much hated and often misunderstood serpent is the most common venomous snake in much of the Southeast, including both North Carolina and South Carolina, and it’s range extends into the heartland and down through Texas inspiring fear, but also myths and misconceptions.

Does reputation match reality? An expert helps set the record straight.

The usual suspect

“Copperheads do catch a lot of flak,” said Sean Foley, director of herpetology at the Riverbanks Zoo & Garden in Columbia, S.C..

Growing up to 4 feet in length, the snake’s color “varies from pink to coppery-tan with dark brown hourglass-shaped crossbands overlying,” and can blend in incredibly well with its surroundings.

The copperhead is one of the six species of venomous snakes that call South Carolina home, but it’s one of the least dangerous, according to Foley.

With a diet consisting almost exclusively of small rodents and amphibians, they offer free pest control.

So what makes the copperhead so loathed by Southerners?

It’s likely due in large part to how much more common they are compared to other venomous snakes.

“When people do come across a venomous snake … it’s usually going to be a copperhead,” Foley said. “It’s not unusual for copperheads to go into people’s yards. [People] don’t like them around their kids, they don’t like them around their pets.”

Do you smell cucumber?

A unique trait to the copperhead, some allege, is that it smells like cucumber when it’s angry.

If someone’s out doing yard work and a smell wafts by reminiscent of freshly chopped salad, then odds are good they’re within striking distance of an unhappy copperhead, according to the folk wisdom of some.

This isn’t outright false, but it is misleading.

“I’ve been around a ton of copperheads and I’ve never smelled anything close to cucumber,” Foley said. “I guess it depends on what you think a cucumber smells like.”

Most snakes are able to emit a musk from their scent glands when they feel threatened, and copperheads are no exception. The defensive odor “may also be mixed with feces,” according to the Missouri Department of Conservation.

“It smells different to different people,” Foley said. “To me, it just smells terrible.”

But relying on one’s sense of smell probably isn’t the best way to avoid a run-in with a copperhead, anyway.

“Chances are unless you’re messing with a snake, you’re not really going to smell it,” Foley said.

Are baby bites worse?

There’s a longstanding notion about venomous snakes, copperheads included, that it is better to be bitten by an adult than a baby; the logic being that young snakes can’t or won’t control how much venom they inject, and so will dump all they have into a single, highly potent strike.

This is a myth, Foley says. Baby snakes actually do have control over the amount of venom they put into a bite.

On top of that, they have far less venom than adults, due to their size, meaning a fully grown snake is more hazardous in virtually any scenario.

“An adult that’s three to four feet long, compared to a little baby that’s 8 inches long, you can just imagine how much more venom an adult snake would have than a baby,” Foley said. ‘It would be a much more potent bite by an adult, just from the sheer amount of venom.”

That said, a bite isn’t a death sentence, no matter the size of the copperhead clamped onto your foot.

Their hemotoxic, flesh-destroying venom is painful, and potentially life-threatening without medical treatment, but it generally leaves the victim with “plenty of time” to get help before the situation turns deadly, according to Foley.

“It’s not something like a Green mamba, where you get bitten and go unconscious really quickly,” he said. Green mambas reside in Africa and not the U.S., thankfully.

Antivenom “wouldn’t necessarily” be required for a copperhead bite, Foley added, “but it would be recommended to get that person to the hospital and have them monitored.”

Venomous snakes tend to base the amount of venom they inject on whether they’re defending themselves, or attacking prey, McClatchy News reported. Perceived threats usually get a smaller dose, because snakes want to save their venom for prey.

Copperheads don’t see people as food, so they only bite humans when they feel threatened, such as when someone tries to grab them, or accidentally steps on or very near them, McClatchy reported.

Dry bites

Sometimes a snake can deliver a “dry bite,” a bite with no venom. Never assume this is the kind of bite received, Foley says.

One-fourth of bites from pit vipers, the family to which copperheads belong, are dry bites, according to the University of Florida. So while it is certainly possible to receive one, odds are significantly worse than a coin flip, and it’s literally life and limb at stake.

“I would not count on it being a dry bite,” Foley said. “You should always assume it’s going to be an envenomation.”

Don’t wait and see if the wound gets worse to determine if a bite was dry or not — always seek help immediately.

Last year in North Carolina, 400 snake bites had been reported by July, and copperheads are responsible for 90% of venomous snake bites in the state, McClatchy News reported.

Copperheads take credit for most venomous bites in South Carolina, too, McClatchy reported.

The nest myth

Despite what some believe, copperheads don’t create nests, Foley says.

The idea of snakes nesting together in a sort of writhing mass is commonly believed about other venomous snakes as well, according to Foley, especially cottonmouths, which also belong to the pit viper subfamily.

He’s not exactly sure where the myth comes from, but suspects people occasionally stumble onto mother copperheads that have just given birth, see the litter of offspring squirming around by the mother and think they’re looking at a nest.

Copperheads, and most pit vipers, are unique among snakes because they give live birth to their young.

Watch where you step

Love them or hate them, copperheads aren’t out to get anyone. And most confrontations with them can be avoided by paying attention to surroundings, and taking proper precautions when working or playing outdoors.

Wear closed toe shoes and long pants when in the woods, the University of Georgia says. Don’t go sticking hands or other parts into spaces you can’t see into.

Don’t jump over logs, go around them, UGA recommends. Adult copperheads like rodents, and logs make good hunting grounds. Also, don’t go out at night without a flashlight — or shoes.

Foley has some advice of his own, and it’s key: “just leave them alone.”

This story was originally published March 25, 2021 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Do angry copperheads smell like cucumber? Expert lays out facts about venomous snakes."