This is because during the mating period males produce a pheromone that makes the female unattractive to other males, who pay little or no attention to mating or just mated females. This is a social snake, which may overwinter in a communal den with other copperheads or other species of snakes including timber rattlesnakes and black rat snakes. They tend to return to the same den year after year. Copperheads are found close to one another near denning, sunning, courting, mating, eating and drinking sites. The are believed to migrate late in the spring to reach summer feeding territories and reverse this migration in early autumn.
Males are aggressive during the spring and autumn mating seasons.
They will try to overpower each other and even pin the others body to the ground. This behavior is exhibited most often in front of females but is not always the case. Copperheads have been reported to climb into low bushes or trees after prey or to bask in the sun. Even newborn copperheads have fully functional fangs that are capable of injecting venom. These newborns have venom that is just as toxic as adults do.