Bites occur due to people unknowingly stepping on or near them. Unlike other viperids, they often 'freeze' instead of slithering away, due to its habit of relying on excellent camouflage, rather than fleeing. Like most pit vipers, the eastern copperhead is generally an ambush predator it takes up a promising position and waits for suitable prey to arrive.Īs a common species within its range, it may be encountered by humans. The eastern copperhead is known to feed on a wide variety of prey, including invertebrates (primarily arthropods) and vertebrates. During the winter, it hibernates in dens or limestone crevices, often together with timber rattlesnakes and black rat snakes. It may occupy rock outcroppings and ledges, but is also found in low-lying, swampy regions. In most of North America, it favors deciduous forest and mixed woodlands. Adults grow to a typical length (including tail) of 50–95 cm (20–37 in). Neonates are born with green or yellow tail tips, which progress to a darker brown or black within one year. The body type is heavy, rather than slender. The eastern copperhead has distinctive, dark brown, hourglass-shaped markings, overlaid on a light reddish brown or brown/gray background. The eastern copperhead ( Agkistrodon contortrix), also known simply as the copperhead, is a species of venomous snake, a pit viper, endemic to eastern North America it is a member of the subfamily Crotalinae in the family Viperidae. Weiss went to the chapel door but stayed in the room to maintain the minyan. After worshippers heard a loud crash, two them went to see what happened. He knew the head count because, as a ritual leader of the congregation, he made sure there was the required minimum - a minyan - of 10 adult worshippers in the room. Weiss told jurors Wednesday that he was one of 12 worshippers that day at the start of Tree of Life's service, which was being held in a separate chapel. With the attack still ongoing, “they told me to get the hell out of here,” and he went home. Perlman eventually found a side exit, climbed over a fence into a neighboring yard and found police, informing them of where the others were hiding. He called Weiss a “man of extraordinary courage” for coming down to the New Light area, even while the attack was underway on the main floor, to make sure New Light members in the basement knew what was happening. Perlman had left the area and was “trying to find my own hiding space” when he saw Tree of Life member Stephen Weiss.

Stay inside.' He didn't listen to me.”Īs Black and Werber testified on Wednesday, Wax opened the door to look out and was shot and killed. He said Wax, who was 87 years old and hard of hearing, wanted to see what had happened. “I said, ‘We’re in danger, follow me.'” He guided Wax and two other worshippers, Carol Black and Barry Werber, into a nearby storage room in the labyrinthine building. Perlman then heard what he immediately recognized as gunfire coming from elsewhere in the building. Member Melvin Wax led in an opening prayer in which “we talk about how grateful we are to start a new day,” he recalled. Perlman, the rabbi of New Light Congregation, recounted arriving at the congregation's basement sanctuary in the synagogue shortly before worship began on that Oct 27. His defense team’s legal maneuverings have focused not so much on preventing his conviction as on preventing his execution. One of his attorneys acknowledged during opening statements Tuesday that Bowers carried out the attack but tried to cast doubt on whether the hate crimes charges were applicable. Prosecutors say Bowers expressed a hatred of Jews online and at the synagogue on the day of the attack.

Copperhead snake sketch