The Eastern Hognose Snake is one of my favourite snakes in all of Ontario and is one that hogs a lot of my time spent herping. One of the reasons for this is the fascinating threat displays that the snake does when threatened, and let me tell you, it really grabs your attention.
Generally the first defensive display that a hognose will do if it cannot hide is flatten in it's neck to make itself look like a venomous Cobra.
Large Eastern Hognose Snake flattening it's neck - Norfolk County
Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County
Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County
Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County
Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County
Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County
Eastern Hognose Snake - North Carolina Sandhills
Even the neonates (babies) will sometimes use this defensive strategy.
Neonate Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County
Although these snakes are venomous, they cannot inject venom in large animals such as humans unless allowed to hold on for a long period of time as their fangs are way in the back of their mouth ("rear-fanged" is the term used to describe this type of snake). If they were to inject their venom into a human it would not be harmful as it is very mild and is only strong enough to demobilize small prey items such as toads.
So, what I am trying to get at is that there is no reason to be afraid of these snakes or their defensive posture. They will not hurt you so we shouldn't hurt them either. Too many snakes get purposefully killed due to human fear and misunderstanding.
Now, if that doesn't scare off a predator, this snake has a back up plan (... or 2 or even 3! - They're such talented actors).
One of the next defenses is one that I have only seen a single Eastern Hognose Snake do, but it is probably my personal favourite. They will open there mouth as wide as they can and make their rear fangs visible in their gaping mouth. The snake I saw do this was actually from the Sandhills region of North Carolina but since it is still the same species found in Ontario I will post a few pictures.
Eastern Hognose Snake
Eastern Hognose Snake
Eastern Hognose Snake
Eastern Hognose Snake
Another possible, and probably the most popular and common display, is that the snake will play dead. That's right. Play dead. It will roll upside down, wriggle on the ground, defecate on itself and surrounding area, open its mouth and stick it's tongue out. If you try to flip the snake back on its belly it will flip back on its back and keep playing dead. This is meant to make them a longer appealing meal for a predator. Here are a few video clips and pictures of the event in action.
Eastern Hognose Snake playing dead - Norfolk County
Eastern Hognose Snake checking to see if its clear to come back to life - Norfolk County
Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County
Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County
Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County
If all of these fails there is only one thing left that they will do. Protect their heads and hiss. Hognose Snakes are also well known for creating little "hats" with their tails that they hide their heads under.
Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County
Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County
Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County
Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County
Eastern Hognose Snake - Norfolk County
At the same time they do this, they often hiss and bluff strike at you with a closed mouth (not trying to bite you).
Hissing like this is a defense that often accompanies the hiding stage. The hognose breathes in a large amount of air and hisses as it breathes it back out.
Finally, that covers all of the Hognose's defense mechanisms.
Besides having unique defensive tactics they also are an interesting snake that is unlike any other in Ontario. They have an upturned snout which is why some people call them "pigs", they burrow in the sand, prey almost solely upon toads, and are a heavily bodied snakes with relatively low amounts of muscle.
Here are some pictures I have accumulated over this year.
2018 started off with some intense weather fluctuations. By mid February we were seeing nights where the temperature would remain positive 5 degrees Celsius or more in the Hamilton-Wentworth Region. And some of these nights had large amounts of rainfall. Although it was only February, I knew that this weather would bring out some early rising amphibians. Particularly the Ambystomid species (mole salamanders). So on February 19th, when the weather was just right, myself and my friend Billy Olds grabbed our flashlights and went out into the night to look for amphibians. When we first arrived on location I was pretty confident that we would find at least 1 or 2 salamanders. But as we walked through the forest across an abundance of ice and snow and past vernal pools that were still completely frozen, that confidence started to diminish. We had even checked the pool where I often see Ambystoma maculatum (Spotted Salamanders) and Ambystma jeffersonianum x laterale (Jefferson x Blue-spot
During the middle of our stay we herped Central Florida for a day and then went down to the Everglades to look for reptiles and amphibians there. Unfortunately we had some very cold weather and didn't find as many species as expected in the glades. Here's what we found: Blue Tail Mole Skink Blue Tail Mole Skink Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad Florida Sand Skink Southern Black Racer Florida Cottonmouth Everglades Racer Peninsula Cooter Add caption We also had some neat bird observations - here are a few I was able to capture on camera Gallinule Add caption And then back to herps... American Alligator American Crocodile Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake - juvenile recently hit but still alive on the road American Alligator - juvenile American Alligator - juvenile Chicken Turtle Eastern Gartersnake R. Wolfe
Spring and summer of 2018 were amazing. I saw some incredible herps within Ontario, which you can see in my previous blog posts on the 2018 season. Fall was slightly different. There were still amazing reptiles and amphibians seen, but they were not from Ontario! Travels took me to the west in Canada and all the way to Greece where I had the privilege of observing some of their native herps. In early fall, I travelled to British Columbia for the Canadian Herpetological Society conference. A group of friends and I were scheduled to be there for the weekend, but headed out to the province a few days early to try and do some hiking and herping of our own before the conference started. After landing in BC, we headed straight for the Okanagan Valley. Probably the coolest observation of the trip was on our drive, and it wasn't even a herp. It was a MOUNTAIN LION! The big beautiful animal was sitting on the edge of a major highway and all our passengers in the car got to catch a glimpse o
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