Over the past two (2) years, we've had Lowland Copper-Head Snakes living under our deck. Sometimes there are two (2) snakes which use the same access point.
The snakes appear to follow a strict routine each day - emerging around 8am, they sun themselves for an hour or so before heading down to the dam to hunt. At around 5 ~ 6pm, they return, sunning themselves again before retiring under the deck.
Hibernation commences in May-ish; well that's when they seem to disappear, re-emerging in September ~ October. Each year, just before they disappear, they usually "get-it-on". On one such occasion, there was a 3rd snake "waiting in the wings" and at times joined in on the fray - not sure whether the "3rd" was male or female.
The following images shows two (2) snakes "getting it on" (the two entwined), with a third (3rd) "waiting in the wings" (grass).
After the event, this one seemed to be showing it's strength / size to encourage the "3rd" snake to move on.
We don't often see them feeding, due to them hunting at the dam, however, on a couple of occasions, we've observed a snake with it's head down a hole (maybe 30cm of it's body length), with the rest of the body, writhing above the ground. Eventually, the snake will emerge with a Pobble-Bonk (Banjo) Frog.
We believe most of the holes around the house are initially dug by Field Mice. Other critters take over the burrow, especially once a snake has been down for a feed. In some instances, the snakes take up residence in the burrow, or use the hole to access under pavers or decking..........but this behaviour is still under investigation.
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