Fall den up perhaps. The den up in the winter.

When I was a kid my friends father found one of these snake dens, first time I ever knew there were rattle snakes around-first rattlesnakes I have ever seen. They ran some hogs up to the den and that was the end of the snakes. The hogs went berserk killing and eating them. I never saw a snake strike once. It was fairly cool and the snakes were quite lethargic. Can't remember if it was spring a or fall.