Things You'll Need
- Binoculars
Instructions
Back away if you encounter one of these snakes outside. You can observe it through binoculars if you are interested.
Note where you saw the snake. While water moccasins do venture onto land and copperheads can swim, it is much more likely that a swimming snake is a moccasin and one a long way from a body of water is a copperhead.
Look at the snake's mouth if it opens it. Moccasins have a white, cottony lining to their mouths.
Examine the markings. They are similar but not exactly the same. The dark bars on baby moccasins are usually full of speckles and spots, which are lacking in the bars on copperheads. Copperheads have a more pronounced, hourglass-like pattern. Both species have bright yellow tails as babies.