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.
