do wild snakes live together in this manner?

Question

someone i met an aquaintance told me he used to hike, but he stopped because one day in the middle of the woods, he happened upon hundreds of horrifying snakes. they were everywhere. he said before that he would hike everywhere. now he completely avoids hiking. he had never seen anything like it and was terrified. he thought he was going to die.

do snakes live in the wild like this? is this story dependable? i never heard of this happening.

Answer 1

This story is dependable. Some snakes get together for a big communal hibernation in the winter. It looks like your friend came upon one of the hibernation nests breaking up due to warm weather.

From the linked site:

" Ideal hibernation sites must remain warm enough to prevent death by freezing, be neither too dry nor too wet, and have adequate ventilation. Snakes may hibernate either alone or in a group that may include hundreds of snakes and more than one species of snake. These group sites are called a hibernaculum. This grouping helps slow body heat lost, and brings males and females together to expedite spring mating after emerging from the den."

Answer 2

Apparently, it can happen. I've seen it myself, in smaller bundles than described below (about 20 snakes), but it does happen!

"MONTGOMERY: For six weeks each spring, on a windswept prairie in Southern Manitoba, one of the most astonishing spectacles in the natural world unfolds.

MASON: If you look over here, you basically see a huge knot. I'd say that's probably the size of maybe a person's living room couch, so I don't know, there's probably, there might be 2,000 snakes in that mass of snakes moving up there."

The snakes around my area are all harmless, so it didn't bother me any -- I found it fascinating!

Answer 3

this is a behavior during the mating season of garter snake. they are mating, and they're non-poisonous. the only other snake that groups together like this is the water moccasin, and for different reasons. their young are born in the water, and they pool together. this is a dangerous thing to fall into, because if you do, you're bound to die as babies are more venomous that adults, more less they can't control their venom output, and thus attack in a frenzy. so, tell your friend not to swim in freshwater lakes until late July, especially in the S.E. United States.

Answer 4

While watering my flowers I see six grown snakes moving and finally coming to me. Later on I could see smaller snakes coming the same path. It was about 80 degrees. I got up on the porch as quickly as I could. Why was this happening? Does anyone know?

Answer 5

usually snakes are in pairs or on their own
except when it is mating time
then you can find them in heaps all on top of one another
and often they hibernate in caves also all clumped together