Eastern hognose series

[Sushigaijin]

all the great hummingbird shots are going to force me to work a little harder! anyway, this is a series from an eastern hognose Heterodon platirhinus that we caught in may, in southern illinois. I didn't get all the shots i wanted to because the people i was with would not stop touching it - so therefor it continued it's act until we were forced to move on to another spot. I would like to have gotten more shots of it framed well, and i would like to have had more of a range of it's behavior...next time, perhaps.

for those of you who are not privy, wild hognose snakes play dead as a defensive maneuver. they do a convincing job - they actually FEEL dead as well...rolling on their backs, tongue lolling from their mouths, secreting musk, poop, and blood from their vents and mouths...



And they STINK...



of course, dead snakes ALWAYS lie on their backs...flip a hognose over, and it will roll back to "dead" side up...this one was posed as if alive, and then slowly started it's migration to dead...



but in the end, the act MUST end...what better way to see if the hazard has passed, then to sneak a peek?




It really is something to see...hopefully i will get a better series next time i find one.

Erik.

[Dylan8i]

i really like the last one of the snake "comming to" it looks vey surreal with it laying on its back but still lifting its head up. i have seen these play dead to and they are awesome.

[paulnj]

Cool series!