Pit vipers include:

• Copperheads
• Cottonmouths
• Rattlesnakes
• Pygmy rattlers

Identifying characteristics of pit vipers include:

• An indentation, or pit, halfway between the snake's eyes and nostrils
• Retractable fangs
• Vertical pupils
• Arrowhead shaped head

Pit viper venom injures the tissue near the bite and damages blood vessels, causing:

• Destruction of red blood cells
• Bleeding
• Nerve damage
• Muscle damage