Edward Brookshire,  age 12, of Dahonega, Ga., or his question:

How do snakes survive the winter?

Snakes, of course, are cold  blooded animals, which means that their only body heat comes from their surroundings such as the ground and the air. When the temperature drops, snakes become chilly and a snake is not at his best when he is chilly. He becomes slow and logy. In freezing weather he could not get around to make a living.

So, at the approach of winter in the temperate zones, the snakes, one and all, go into hibernation They may crawl into a rocky den, a hollow tree or a vacated burrow. Often many of them crawl into the same lair and knot their snakey bodies into a tangled ball. There they wait in a deep coma until the warmth of spring wakens them to activity again.