### animal | vertebrate | reptile | serpent | viper:

Pit viper
* All pit vipers have deep facial pits on each side of their head.
* Most pit vipers are ovoviviparous
  - develop organs
* Most pit vipers have fangs
  - hollow fangs
  - structures
  - strike animals
* Some pit vipers have fleeces
  - patches
  - receptors
  - share environments
  - stay with their babies until after their first moult
* are a group of venomous snakes that have depressions in the front of their eyes
  - subfamily of venomous vipers found in the Americas and Asia
  - far more advanced than other snakes
  - found throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia
  - mainly viviparous , meaning the females give live birth
  - some of the most beautiful, and most dangerous, snakes in the world
  - widespread throughout the world
* can detect heat with infrared sensors.
* have a characteristic pit Iocated between the eye and nostril on each side of the head
  - distinctive pit under each eye
  - heat sensitive organ located between their nostril and eye
  - sensory pit located between the eye and the nostril on each side of their head
  - telltale pit between the eye and the mouth
  - very sophisticated venom delivery system
  - heat-sensing pits in their heads to help find their prey
  - triangular shaped heads and vertical pupils
* have two holes, or pits, on their snouts
  - pit organs, one on each side of the head between the eye and nostril
* lunge forward, bite, and immediately pull back.
* reproduce sexually by means of internal fertilization.
* see the world in a combination of heat and light.
* span a huge portion of the world.
+ Crotalinae, Reproduction: Vipers
  * Pit vipers are mainly viviparous, meaning the females give live birth. It is believed that all oviparous Pit vipers guard their eggs. Many young Pit vipers have brightly coloured tails which is different to the rest of their body.

### animal | vertebrate | reptile | serpent | viper | pit viper:

Copperhead
* Most copperheads prefer rocky hillsides as habitats or near water.
* also eat other rodents, such as house mice and young chipmunks.
* are copper to hazel-brown in color with darker hourglass shaped bands
  - elapids
  - generally inoffensive and retiring, preferring to retreat when disturbed
  - ovoviviparous, which means that eggs incubate inside the mother's body
* are pit vipers, like rattlesnakes and water moccasins
  - political parties
  - semi-social snakes
* are the least dangerous of the pit vipers
  - more widespread of the two covering most of the eastern united states
  - thick-bodied and have keeled scales
  - venomous snakes found throughout the eastern united states and parts of Mexico
  - venomous, and are therefore highly dangerous if approached or handled
* eat a variety of prey, typically feeding on lizards and frogs
  - mice, lizards, frogs and sometimes small snakes
  - small mammals
  - their food whole, using their flexibly hinged jaws to swallow the meal
* feed on mice, small birds, lizards, snakes, amphibians, and insects, especially cicadas.
* give off a distinctive cucumber-like smell.
* have a diamond shaped head which is set off from the relatively thin neck
  - gestation period of three to nine months
  - hourglass markings, whereas corn snakes' markings are blotchy and random
* inhabit more wooded areas, generally
  - rocky areas with thick underbrush, even in heavily populated regions
* make their homes on rocky hillsides and along the edges of forests.
* mate in spring and sometimes autumn.
* prey on small rodents, toads, and young birds.
* tend to prefer drier habitats in woods, grasses and old sheds.
* usually hunt by ambushing unsuspecting prey that pass within striking distance.