A little off topic, I observe wild snakes and have for decades. At this time of year, I observe diamondbacks. I have areas where I can observe them all winter. They can den up, that is, many individuals in one area. or winter singly. The females that are going to reproduce, stay in their shelters long past the males. The males sit(post) outside the shelters for up to a month before the females emerge. The males patiently wait, and bask.

When its time for the females to emerge, they bask for a couple days, copulate then move out of the den area. Their body temps during winter are 34F to mid forties. They emerge went they start to develop ovum. They look thin, but you can palpate ovum. So if we us our method of understanding(the words) While these females are hibernating/bromating, they are actively in reproductive mode. I also worked on C.willardi and C.lepidus for many years and those females were very active all winter, high elevation and cold as heck, and carried much larger ovum and at times embryos.

So please understand, I have reason to say what I say. End part 2

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