I can tell you a snake story that will make your skin crawl. Several years ago we were remodeling the kitchen. There were open holes in the floor where the plumbing entered the house. One afternoon I came home to find a snake skin hanging in one of the holes, half inside, half dangling into the crawl space below, all six feet of it. I searched carefully inside the house for the snake which was nowhere to be found. I assumed it came in, shed its skin, then left the way it came. I then plugged the holes. Fast forward two weeks. I had a pair of pigeon babies one of which was lagging behind in development and not getting fed enough. Before work I brought in the larger sibling so the runt could get the parents undivided attention for a few hours. The little guy was placed in a small basket in the living room. When I came home I immediately noticed the basket was empty. I was very surprised in that the little bird was too small to get out of the basket alone. Then it dawned on me...... And yes, a careful search revealed a fat nasty snake with a bulge in its belly curled up by the fireplace. That thing had been lurking inside my house for two weeks!!!!!
To answer you question about when snakes hunt, I have mostly seen them on the prowl just at dusk but I have found them with a mouth full of my pigeons in mid afternoon.
