Snakes live in many different habitats, as they inhabit all
continents except for Antarctica. They can be found in Europe,
Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. Australia is the
continent where venomous snakes are more numerous than
non-venomous ones.
Snakes live in deserts, forests, lakes, marshes, mountains and
even in the cities. Snakes simply look for the best habitat for
them – but they don't like to be close to people and will in
many cases try to run away as soon as they hear some commotion
in their surroundings.
Snakes are cold-blooded reptiles and spend most of the time
during colder months in their habitat in hibernation. They will
become active again with rising temperatures. There are some
snake species that spend most of their life in holes in the
ground, going out only to get food and to sunbathe to increase
their body temperature. On the other hand, there are some snake
species that spend most of their life outside, looking for
shelter only during the night and cold months.
Snakes live not only in holes but also in many other habitats
that can provide sufficient shelter, such as hollow tree trunks,
under rocks, and under leaf litter. Although they live under the
ground in holes, they usually don't dig these holes themselves
because they are not capable of digging decent holes. Only in
the case of very loose soil (such as sand or mud) can they
burrow themselves under the ground – but this can't really be
considered as digging a hole but actually burrowing their body
into the soil. This is often the case with snakes in the deserts
of Australia and Africa.
When holes are in question, snakes will often get into abandoned
rodent holes or will simply take over an inhabited rodent hole –
they will get inside, attack and eat the rodent and then
consider this hole its home.
You can consider a hole to be inhabited (possibly by a snake) in
a case where there is no debris and spider webs around the
entrance to the hole. If you see such a hole near your home, you
should contact animal services to get it checked. To be sure
that there will be no snakes near your home, you should keep
your yard clean of all debris that could attract snakes.
Snakes are generally afraid of people and will run away before
you actually get near it. You should be afraid of the snake only
when the snake feels threatened, i.e. when it doesn't have a
back-away solution.
For more information about whether snakes live in holes, go to
my Snake
Removal - How to Get Rid of Snakes home page.