Eastern Hognose Snake Conservation
We monitor and protect some of the northern-most populations of the threatened eastern hognose snake in eastern Massachusetts.
Eastern hognose snakes (Heterodon platirhinos) are mid-size, harmless snakes that prey almost exclusively on amphibians (frogs and salamanders), particularly toads. They are famous for their defensive behaviors – when hognose snakes encounter a potential predator, they will often mimic venomous snakes by rearing up, fanning the skin around their necks (pretending to be little cobras), and hissing loudly. If the predator doesn’t back off, “plan B” is often playing dead – the snake may flip on its back, writhe around as if in a death spasm, open its mouth, stick out its tongue, and finally lay still.
Unfortunately, the complex anti-predator behavior of eastern hognose snakes has not saved them from the impacts of human development along the coastal plain of southern New England. Eastern hognose snakes were recently listed as a “Species of Special Concern under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act, and they are an “Endangered Species” in New Hampshire, where the species reaches its current northern range limit.
Our Field Conservation Department is assisting a skilled group of herpetologists in assessing a surprisingly robust population of eastern hognose snakes in northern Massachusetts. Studying these populations at the northern end of their range can provide conservationists important data on population demographics, nesting ecology, and habitat use that can inform future management decisions.
