Here’s when & where in SC you’re mostly likely to run into a copperhead this summer

The University of South Carolina Upstate’s Southern Piedmont Natural History program has a message for dog walkers, people getting some fresh air or even checking mail.

Watch your step.

This is prime copperhead time. The most venomous snake in the Southeast hates the summer sun so waits until dusk to venture out to laze on a warm sidewalk, walking path, or driveway.

And they stay out through the night.

“That’s why I always use a flashlight when I’m walking at dusk or at night,” Southern Piedmont Natural History said on Facebook. “The moonlight or streetlights are often bright enough for me to see where I’m going, but I’ve had several instances where I could have easily stepped on a copperhead if I hadn’t been using a headlamp.”

Stepped on a copperhead! Oh my.

Southern Piedmont Natural History uses several social media platforms to teach about plants, fungi, and wildlife in the Piedmont of the Carolinas and Georgia as well as publishing a field guide to the Southern Piedmont.

They also have an associated coloring book.

Copperheads are South Carolina’s most populous venomous snake, living all over the place from woodlands, along lakes and streams and in wood piles. And, yes, your yard.

“Despite being venomous, there’s no need to fear or harm copperheads, “ the organization said. “There’s a good chance you’ve walked right past several of them without knowing it!”

Some of the people responding to the Facebook post were not quite as softhearted.

“I kill all poisonous snakes with no apologies,” one man said, then later added. “Always carry your .22 with bird shot, eliminates a poisonous snake real fast.”

The conversation took a turn when someone called him a redneck.

A woman said she had one in her backyard recently and it killed a garter snake.

“We had it relocated away from our property,” she said, but did not explain how.

One woman said the problem is you can’t see them.

“Their camouflage is that good. Then you step on them. Then you’re bit,” she said.

Live Science says copperheads bite more often than any other snake species but bites are rarely fatal. Wikipedia has a list of fatal snake bites and you have to go back to 1937 to find one in South Carolina, but the Clio farmer could have been bitten by a rattlesnake or cottonmouth, too.

One reason they are hard to see is they are light to rich brown with darker brown hourglass shaped markings on their backs. In other words, they look like the fallen leaves they wander through looking for their next meal.

This story was originally published June 19, 2025 at 6:00 AM.