Habitat
Snakes like to
live in damp, dark, cool places where food is abundant. Likely places around homes to find snakes include:
Firewood stacked directly on the ground.
Old lumber
or junk piles.
Gardens and flower beds with heavy mulch.
Untrimmed shrubs and shrubs growing next to a foundation.
Unmowed
and unkept lawns, abandoned lots, and fields with tall vegetation.
Pond and stream
banks where there is abundant debris or trash.
Cluttered basements and attics
with a rodent, bird, or bat problem.
Feed storage areas in barn hay lofts where
rodents may be abundant.
The poisonous snakes have more specialized habitat requirements.
Cottonmouths are confined to a few choice wetlands and swamps Cottonmouths may be common in swamps, such as Murphy's pond,
but the number of swamps where they can be found is declining because these wetlands are being converted into agricultural
fields.
Pygmy rattlesnakes are small snakes are sometimes encountered when they
cross roads in the evening. Timber rattlesnakes prefer sparsely populated forested areas where there are numerous rock outcroppings,
rocky slopes, and boulders. At one time, timber rattlesnakes were common throughout . Because humans have disturbed much of
this snake's habitat, timber rattlesnakes are becoming common throughout .
Copperheads
are the most abundant venomous snakes found . They can be found throughout the commonwealth the United Statesbut are rare
to absent in some places Copperheads prefer to live in hilly forested areas with rocky bluffs and ravines. They can also be
found along wooded stream borders, old fields, and meadows where they search for rodents. Copperheads
cause the majority of poisonous snake bitesy. Their bites are almost never fatal, and fewer than 10 percent of rattlesnake
bites are lethal.
