Ron Rengler, age 11, of Utica, N.Y., for his question:

HOW LONG DOES A COPPERHEAD SNAKE GROW TO BE?

In the United States, the copperhead is a poisonous snake of the pit viper family. It grows to be between 30 and 50 inches long. Copperheads have brownish or pinkish brown bodies regularly marked with bands of darker brown in an hourglass pattern.

Copperheads can be found in hilly country from Massachusetts to northern Florida and westward to Illinois and Texas.

The venom of the copperhead attacks the blood, like that of the related rattlesnake. But the copperhead's venom is less potent and the snake is not as aggressive as the rattler.

The Australian copperhead is a venomous member of the cobra family and is dangerous but also not aggressive. Found in Tasmania and southern Australia, it grows to be up to five feet in length.

The copperhead of India is also called the rat snake. It is nonvenomous.