7 snake species that seek warmer hiding spots and may still turn up around homes, farms and gardens

When the weather turns cold, many people assume snakes disappear until spring. In reality, they just get quieter. Snakes can’t make their own body heat, so in winter they slow down and hunt for warm, sheltered places to rest. Sometimes those places are woodpiles, storerooms, compost heaps, crop fields or the corner of a garden. Here are seven species worth knowing about.