When do snakes come out? Month by month, state by state

May is the peak month in 27 states (Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas and 17 more). April is the peak month in 5 states (Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas). June is the peak month in 5 states (Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont). August is the peak month in 2 states (Arizona and New Mexico). March is the peak month in 1 state (Florida). September is the peak month in 1 state (Nebraska). October is the peak month in 1 state (Illinois).

Months holding under 2% of a state's observation records mark the stretch when snakes are almost never seen, the practical hibernation window. It is longest, five months, in Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska and 4 more, and shortest in Florida and Louisiana, with no quiet month at all.

Among states whose main season falls within one calendar year, it opens first in February, in Louisiana and Oregon, and last in May, in Maine, Vermont and West Virginia. Snakes are recorded through most of the year in Florida. Of the rest, the longest main season is nine months, in Louisiana, Mississippi and Oregon; the shortest is five months, in West Virginia. States are sorted by the month the main season starts. Quiet months hold under 2% of records; winter share is December to February.

Observation records of spiders run mostly March through November, peaking in August with 14% of them, a later curve than snakes. Snakes peak in May, spiders in August.

In 31 of the 42 states with enough spider and snake observation records, spiders peak later in the year than snakes do.

Among venomous species with enough observation records, the Florida cottonmouth, the pygmy rattlesnake, the eastern diamondback rattlesnake and the eastern coral snake are recorded through most of the year. Of the rest, the earliest main season within one calendar year opens in March, for the western rattlesnake, the western diamondback rattlesnake, the northern cottonmouth, the broad-banded copperhead, the sidewinder, the red diamond rattlesnake, the southwestern speckled rattlesnake and the Texas coral snake. The most recorded, the western rattlesnake, peaks in May.