[fr_freak]

We have copperheads and rattlers here in SW PA. Rattlers are generally bigger, more agressive and inject more venom. Their only good quality is the rattle can warn you.

Interesting. I have years of close encounters with rattlesnakes, and I consider them to be fairly non-aggressive, in that they will sound off with the rattle well before they actually bite you, assuming you don't run up on them too quickly (at a walking pace, you should get plenty of warning before getting bit). If you back off, they simply slink off into the grass. But these are southwest rattlers. I wonder if rattlers in PA are a more aggressive breed.

[Eagles6]

More aggressive compared to a copperhead. They will coil up, rattle, hiss, display and strike.

Copperheads won't say anything. They just bite your a$$.

Neither will chase you like a water snake.

[mad_as_he$$]

Rattlers here in Nevada are not as noisy as they used to be. The theory is that all of the noisy ones were killed off and the ones left are not as willing or able to rattle. Also, there are Mojave Green’s they will literally pursue a human.