Eastern Hognose Snake
| Scientific Name | Heterodon platirhinos |
| Survival Strategy | Brumation |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern |
Spring
The eastern hognose snake comes out of brumation in late March or early April. The breeding season runs from April to July.
Summer
The female will lay 10 to 30 eggs in a sunny location, 10 to15 cm deep into sandy soils from early June to late July. The precocious young hatch in August and September and are entirely independent of their parents from their first day of life.
Fall
Changes in day length and temperature trigger a search for a suitable underground winter shelter. As the temperature drops below 19°C (66°F), hognose snakes enter a state of inactivity called brumation.
Winter
Hognose snakes will spend the entire winter below the frost-line in a state of brumation.
Behavior
Play Tough or Play Dead
The eastern hognose snake’s first response to a threat is to flee, but when that is not an option, it will try to intimidate potential predators by flattening the skin around its head and making hissing sounds. If playing tough does not work, it will play dead by flipping onto its back while sticking its tongue out. It will also produce a foul-smelling musk to make itself less desirable to predators. Even newly hatched hognose snakes will use these behaviors.
Physiology
Brumation
Winter is not kind to cold-blooded reptiles. The eastern hognose snake’s body temperature is the same as the outside air, and temperatures below freezing are lethal. The hognose must maintain a body temperature above 30°C (86°F) to digest its food because digestive enzymes do not work efficiently at colder temperatures. The snake’s digestion slows down, and food in its digestive system may spoil, causing the snake to regurgitate the life-sustaining energy the meal provides.
Shorter day lengths and lower temperatures trigger brumation in the eastern hognose snake. As fall weather cools, it will take refuge below the frost-line, either by digging a burrow in loose sand or occupying an abandoned mammal tunnel to use as a hibernaculum. Safely inside its underground shelter, the hognose will enter a state of brumation when the air temperature falls below 19°C (66°F), typically in September or early November. The hibernaculum protects the hognose from the deadly sub-freezing temperatures above ground.
Snakes are awake during brumation, though very sluggish, and their metabolism slows down, conserving energy and reducing the amount of oxygen needed to survive until spring.
Diet
The diet of the eastern hognose snake includes toads, frogs, small birds, small mammals, and invertebrates.
The hognose is a toad-hunting expert. Toads are eaten while still alive and secrete a substance that can be fatal to predators, but the eastern hognose snake produces an enzyme that neutralizes the toxin. To avoid being eaten, toads will puff up with air, but the hognose can deflate them using large teeth near the back of its jaw to puncture the lungs of the toad.
With toads making up more than 75% of the snake’s diet, a decline in the population of toads will likely lead to a reduction in the eastern hognose snake population.
Lifespan and Mortality
The lifespan of hognose snakes in the wild is unknown.
Predators
Eastern hognose snakes have many predators, including raccoons, foxes, and hawks.
Human-caused Mortality
Snakes bask on road surfaces to absorb radiant heat, increasing the risk of accidental or deliberate mortality from vehicles.
Climate Vulnerability
The hognose snake is classified as “moderately vulnerable” to the effects of a warming climate.
Never Stop Learning
Neurobiology: Neurons in the thalamus of humans and other primates trigger a fear response to snakes. Ophidiophobia is the extreme fear of snakes.
First Nations: The Ojibwe word for snake is “ginebig.”
References
| ADW: Heterodon platirhinos: https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Heterodon_platirhinos/ |
| Eastern Hognose Snake | Office for Environmental Programs Outreach Services https://oepos.ca.uky.edu/content/eastern-hognose-snake |
| Eastern Hognose Snake -Heterodon platirhinos | Wildlife Journal Junior https://nhpbs.org/wild/easternhognosesnake.asp |
| Schlesinger MD, Corser JD, Perkins KA, and White EL. 2011. Vulnerability of at-risk species to climate change in New York. New York Natural Heritage Program, Albany, NY https://www.natureserve.org/sites/default/files/ccvi_report_ny.pdf |
| The Ojibwe People’s Dictionary: ginebig https://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/main-entry/ginebig-na |
| Do Snakes Hibernate? How Brumation In Snakes Works https://www.snakesforpets.com/do-snakes-hibernate/ |