Vipers of the United States
Occuring worldwide, this family of dangerously venomous snakes include about 290 species. Seventeen of the 19 venomous snakes in the United States belong to the Viperidae. They are represented by three genera: Agkistrodon, the copperheads and cottonmouths, as well as Crotalus and Sistrurus, the rattlesnakes.
Most of those in the United States are stout-bodied, with heads that are distinctly wider then the neck and patterned with blotches or crossbands. They have recurved, retractable hollow fangs located near the front of the upper jaw. Normally folded back along the jaw, they fangs are quickjly swung forward as the mouth is opened to strike. A heat-sensitive pit is present on each side of the head between the eye and the nostril. These are used to lcoate warm blooded prey. Vipers also have eyes with vertical pupils and an individual row of scales under the tail. Rattlesnakes bear a distnictive rattle on their tail. This unique structure is a series of flattened, interlocking dry horny segments that product a buzzing noise when shaken vigorously. A new segment is added each time the snakes sheds their skin which is 2 to 4 times a year. Vipers appear to be the most highly evolved snakes, organized for capturing, killing, and ingesting relatively large warm-blooded prey. Their venom is a complex mixture of protiens, which act primarily on a victim's blood tissue. Extrmem caution is advised as even "road kill" snakes have been known to bite. Most are nocturnal and most bear their young live.
There are only 17 species of Vipers in the U.S.
Found from SW Massachussetts west to extreme SE Nebraska south through the Florida panhandle and SC and west Texas.
Found from SE Virgina south to the upper Florida Keys, west to southern Illinois, southern Missouri, southcentral Oklahoma and central Texas. Isolated population in northcentral Missouri.
Found in the lower coastal plain from southeast North Carolina to the Florida Keys, west to southern Mississippi, and extreme eastern Louisiana.
Found from southeast Califoria to central Arkansas south into northern Mexico.
Found from southern Nevada and adjacent California and extreme southwestern Utah south into Mexico.
Found from extrme southwest Maine south to northern Florida and west into southeastern Minnesota and central Texas.
Found from southeastern Arizona, westcentral and southeastern New Mexico southeast to Jalisco, and though the Trans-Pecos region to southcentral Texas.
Found from extreme southwestern Utah, southern Nevada, and southern California south into northwestern Sonora and throughout Baja California.
Found from Arizona east to central Texas and south through central Mexico.
Found from southeastern Arizona south to southern Durango Mexico.
Found from southwestern California south through Baja.
Found from southern Nevada and adjacent California and extreme southwestern Utah southwestward through central Mexico.
Found from central Arizona south to southern Sonora Mexico.
Found from extreme western Iowa, south into Mexico and west into southern Alberta, southwestern Saskatchewan, southcentral British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and coastal California, and south into Mexico.
Found from extreme western Iowa, south into Mexico and west into southern Alberta, southwestern Saskatchewan, southcentral British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and coastal California, and south into Mexico.
Found from southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico south in scattered populations to southern Durango and northwest Zacatecas, Mexico.
Found from southern Ontario and northwestern Pennsylvania south to northeastern Mexico and extreme southeastern Arizona with isolated populations in central New York.
Found from eastern North Carolina to the Florida Keys, west to eastern Oklahoma and eastern Texas.
|
