Where do snakes go in the winter?
No doubt that’s a question that’s been very heavy on people’s minds lately.
OK, so it hasn’t been something you have given a lot of thought to lately, but what brought it to my mind was when someone told me that during that brief warm, rainy spell we experienced not long ago, they saw a snake crawling across the road.
I have personally never seen a snake once they disappear for the winter, and it’s usually well into spring before I spot my first snake.
Snakes, in fact, are a lot like people — they want to stay warm and comfortable to maintain their life functions. With the exception of us odd ice-fishing types in the cold of winter, we humans head inside to a warm, comfortable environment where we park on a soft, cozy chair with some leftover cookies and fall asleep watching television. I guess that’s a form of human hibernation, but snakes are still a bit different when it comes to winter.
Snakes are referred to as being “ectotherms” or cold-blooded animals. In other words, they rely on outside heat to regulate their body temperature in order to survive. In parts of the country like ours, where winters are cold, snakes enter a state of “brumation,” a reptile’s version of dormancy.
Similar to hibernation, snakes reduce their activity and metabolism, and their breathing slows to survive the cold. The snakes are not fully asleep, but they are much slower and much less active. While they do not eat during this period, they may drink some water on occasion.
So, where do snakes actually go during brumation? A snake’s winter den is called a “hibernaculum”. Hibernacula can be a variety of sites, including rock crevices, rodent burrows, and tree root cavities. Piles of rocks, lumber, and stumps may also be used for winter lodging. Much to the dismay of some, even crawl spaces under house foundations may be used by snakes during the winter months. The most important factor is that the area chosen by snakes must maintain a consistent temperature above the freezing point.
If you live in an area of higher elevation with rock cliffs or abundant rock structures, that would no doubt be likely hibernacula sites, particularly for rattlesnakes. Granted, for the most part, the northern, more mountainous areas are where our rattlesnakes are usually found. I have hiked those areas in the spring, and on several occasions, I have discovered rattlesnake dens, some with a good number of snakes coming out to sun themselves on a warm spring day. Locating den sites for our more common nonvenomous snakes is probably more difficult since they can utilize so many different options. That groundhog hole out back could be a potential den site, but so could that stack of old, dead trees.
Well, spring is still a few months away, but you can bet that when spring does arrive, someone will be telling you that they saw a big, six-foot-long black snake lying out in their driveway, probably soaking up that nice warm sun and heat from the driveway.
