4. Do snakes use the same den year after year?

In their first winter most juvenile snakes remain where they spent the summer - seeking refuge in ant hills, animal burrows or any crevasse that will take them below frozen ground. It's only during their second year that they migrate to an established den site and continue to use it year after year. Although most adult snakes seem to use the same den site, marking and recapture studies have shown that some snakes use alternate dens. It is believed that snakes home to den sites using scent trails.