It's a cold day in Dallas with snow on the ground (well, the grass anyway) and where are the snakes?

They don't hibernate like bears, sleeping the winter away. Instead they go below the frost line, using cracks and crevices that would seem claustrophobic to us, but to them are downright comforting. You could say that snakes have claustrophelia. From their point of view, the tighter the safer. Nothing that wants to eat them can squeeze in with them.

Once below the frost line, the temps bottom out at about 52F, and their metabolisms slow down so they don't have to eat. Move a bit, drink water, but not hunt for food. Conserving energy for the spring.

Where are the snakes?,there in my compost pile,I'm here in Austin and today I was turning my pile with a hay fork and I pulled up 2 chicken snakes?,maybe,about 2' long and just suprised as me,that we were looking at each other.I just put 'em back in the pile to take care of any rats.

Good call, Produce Guy. Chicken Snake is the colloquial term for Texas Rat Snake, and they are 100% beneficial.

Yikes!

I'm hoping we turn our piles often enough that I NEVER face a 2' snake.

_________________
God speed!
Cara
**
Take time to stop and smell the flowers!
(or... as my ladybug refrigerator magnet says
"take time to stop and eat the flowers!" )

I've a friend who works for animal control and he brings me all the rat and chicken snakes that get turned loose on my property. No rat or mice problem and they kill and eat the copperheads.

Chicken snake and Texas Rat Snake are the same thing here. The former is just a local term. They typically don't eat Copperheads though, because unlike Kingsnakes (we have the Prairie Kingsnake here) they are not immune to the venom.