found in many differing types of habitat including: grasslands, deserts, sagebrush flats, chaparral, woodlands, thorn scrub, thorn forest, and mountain meadows. Both rocky and sandy areas are inhabited by night snakes, and elevations over have been recorded. The night snake is also known to inhabit mammal burrows. Ecology Behavior Night snakes are known to be both crepuscular (most active at dawn and dusk), and nocturnal. They are usually seen at night while crossing roads, but can be found under rocks, boards, dead branches and other surface litter during the day. Night snakes hibernate during the winter months, and are known to aestivate during periods of the summer. They are generally most active from April to October, with peaks of activity usually occurring in June. If threatened, the night snake may coil up and thrust its coils at the threat, while flattening its head into a triangular defensive shape. Diet Their main prey is lizards. A study in southwestern Idaho found that the night snake's diet consisted mostly of side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana) and their eggs. Other prey includes juvenile rattlesnakes and blind snakes, salamanders, frogs, and large insects. Reproduction Night snakes mate in the spring, and females lay a clutch of 2–9 eggs from April to August. Eggs hatch in 7 to 8 weeks, usually in late summer. Males reach sexual maturity after one year. In captivity Night snakes are known to be docile and easily handled. Captive night snakes have lived over 12 years. References Further reading Behler JL, King FW. 1979. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 743 pp. . (Hypsiglena torquata, pp. 616–617 + Plate 586). Boulenger GA. 1894. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xi + 382 pp. + Plates I- XX. (Hypsiglena torquata, p. 210; see also H. ochrorhynchus, pp. 209–210, and H. affinis, pp. 210–211 + Plate VIII, Figure 1). Conant R. 1975. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. xviii + 429 pp. (hardcover), (paperback). (Hypsiglena torquata, pp. 217–218 + Plate 33 + Map 170). Conant R, Bridges W. 1939. What Snake Is That? A Field Guide to the Snakes of the United States East of the