Predators and Prey: The eastern hognose snake is a rear fanged snake with a toxic saliva used to help subdue and digest toads and other amphibians, their preferred food. This toxic saliva is made up of phosphodiesterase which breaks down molecules including DNA. Their saliva also contains metalloprotease which heighten the effects of other toxins. These toxins are not considered medically significant to humans and bites do not regularly occur from wild snakes. Instead of biting, as a defense, hognose snakes will puff up to make themselves look bigger, if that doesn’t work they flatten themselves like a cobra and head-but the potential predator to try and scare it away. If this still does not work, they roll over and play dead. They will also produce a musk from their cloaca so that they also smell as if they are sick or rotting. Although their saliva contains some toxins, these animals are not considered dangerous by any means
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Development: An eastern hognose snake emerges from her egg and sees the world for the first time. As the egg is laid, a small spot appears on the yolk, within the shell. This is a small clump of cells that soon multiply and begin to differentiate into organs, and eventually an animal. Feeding these cells is the yolk, a collection of protein, iron, vitamins and calcium. Suspended in the albumen, the watery egg white, the embryo keeps hydrated, absorbing its moisture. Encasing the albumen, is a thin membrane, keeping the embryo safe from bacteria as the outer shell provides protection from the outside world. Small pores in the leathery and malleable shell allow for air exchange so the embryo may breath. Many species from birds to turtles, crocodiles and snakes, develop a small egg tooth, a hard calcification on the nose to break through the shell.
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Range and Habitat: The eastern hognose snake is found in the eastern United States and Ontario in Canada. In the United States, they range from New Hampshire, westwards into Minnesota and south into Texas and Florida. In Ontario, there are two main populations of hognose, those found in the Carolinian Zone and those on the Canadian Shield and Trent Severn Waterway. Here, they can be found in forested areas, rock barrens and savannahs where they burrow in the loose sandy soil to avoid extreme heat, and cold temperatures. Ontario savannahs in particular, were originally created by local Indigenous Peoples using fire, or 𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘬𝘰𝘥𝘦 in Ojibwe. This was used as a form of medicine for the land. By burning back many grasses and shrubs, it returned nutrients to the soil, water to the streams, and allowed for a variety of specialized plants to grow. This created a home for many animals such as migratory birds, badgers, and rare snakes. Now, in many areas of North America, these traditional burns have been banned, leading to a disconnect in traditional practices and an increase in forest fires. Forest fires fed by the dry grasses and brush that would have otherwise been burned off by small controlled fires.
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Sources:
"Eastern Hog-Nosed Snake." Ontario Nature, 2021, ontarionature.org/programs/community-science/reptile-amphibian-atlas/eastern-hognosed-snake/. Accessed 10 Dec. 2021. Fridgen, Tina. "Herpetology BIOL3340H - Reptiles." Trent University, 24 Sept. 2019, Peterborough, Canada. Lecture. "Ishkode." The Ojibwe People's Dictionary, May 2021, ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/main-entry/ishkode-ni. Accessed 10 Dec. 2021. Keefe, Kathleen. "High Park's Rare Black Oak Savannah." High Park Nature, 2018, highparknature.org/article/high-parks-rare-black-oak-savannah/. Accessed 10 Dec. 2021. "Prescribed Burns Reduce Wildfire Risk." Government of British Columbia, 12 Aug. 2019, news.gov.bc.ca/factsheets/prescribed-burns-reduce-wildfire-risks. Accessed 10 Dec. 2021. Weinstein, Scott. "Local Envenoming by a Western Hognose Snake (Heterodon nasicus): A Case Report and Review of Medically Significant Heterodon Bites." Research Gate, Toxicon, May 2009, www.researchgate.net/publication/24359418_Local_envenoming_by_the_Western_hognose_snake_Heterodon_nasicus_A_case_report_and_review_of_medically_significant_Heterodon_bites. Accessed 10 Dec. 2021. |