Snakes follow the thermometer, and Texas agencies say brush control can help reduce encounters
Texas Parks and Wildlife says temperature governs how active snakes are, and AgriLife Extension advises clearing debris, sealing buildings and leaving snakes alone.
Snakes in Texas speed up or slow down with the temperature, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension says people in Cooke County and across North Texas can reduce their chances of meeting one by clearing brush and sealing gaps in buildings.
The wildlife department says snakes take their heat from the world around them, so their activity follows the weather. Cold leaves them increasingly sluggish. Heat that is too intense during the day can shift their movement to the night. A change in temperature, in other words, does not automatically put more snakes in view.
Most bites come when a person tries to kill a snake or move it, according to the April 2025 newsletter from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. The agency recommends removing brush and debris, closing entry points into houses and outbuildings, and not handling snakes at all.
Anyone who is bitten should call 911 or the Texas Poison Center Network at 1-800-222-1222, the Texas Department of State Health Services says. Poison center staff can say which medical centers have the right antivenom.
The seasonal rhythm is long documented. AgriLife's June 2013 snake publication says snakes generally leave winter dens in late February or early March and gather again in fall for winter dormancy. In neighboring Oklahoma, the Department of Wildlife Conservation describes fall as a second peak for reptiles. Temperatures in the 60s and 70s let them warm up without overheating, the department says, until colder conditions send them into dormancy.
More sightings do not necessarily mean more snakes. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance wrote in 2017 that wetter conditions can bring snakes closer to the surface, and that a population increase after food becomes more plentiful takes at least a year.
The CDC estimates that the United States sees 7,000 to 8,000 venomous snakebites a year, with about five deaths. Those are national estimates, not measurements of activity in Cooke County. A 2023 study of Georgia emergency-department visits found that each 1-degree Celsius rise in the day's high temperature went with roughly 6% higher odds of a venomous bite, and the link was strongest in spring. The study does not show an increase in Gainesville.
Estimated venomous snakebites in the United States each year
The CDC estimates about five deaths a year result. These are national estimates, not measurements of Cooke County activity.
Nearby Flower Mound used its August 2025 municipal newsletter to warn of heightened summer snake activity and named copperheads and water moccasins as local concerns. Under the town's wildlife policy, Animal Services tries to capture a visible snake in a house or yard during business hours, responds to snakes inside homes after hours, and does not answer yard sightings after hours.
Snake education is also on the calendar closer to home. Ray Roberts Lake State Park scheduled a ranger-led snake identification and encounter program for April 13, 2024, that included a chance to meet a park ambassador snake.
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