2. How can you tell the sex of a snake?

One way to determine the sex is to study their behaviour. In spring, male snakes gather in large numbers at the surface of the den waiting for a chance to mate with a female snake. As each female emerges from her winter den she is vigorously pursued by a band of males who entwine themselves around her to form a mating ball.

The one female is usually at the centre and lead of the mating ball as it slithers like a tangled matt of spaghetti along the ground or up a shrub. In addition to physical differences between the two sexes in the vent area, adult females are larger than adult males both in length and body thickness.