the.com/hognose
the drama major of snakes, faking death so hard it occasionally overacts itself belly-up.
means A nonvenomous snake named for its distinctive upturned, pig-like snout, famous for its theatrical defensive displays of hissing, hooding, and playing dead.
from A plain English compound of 'hog' and 'nose' — the animal is simply named for the broad, upturned snout it uses to root through soil for buried toads, just as a pig uses its snout to root in the dirt. 'Hog' is an old English word for swine of obscure deeper origin, possibly Celtic; 'nose' traces back to Old English 'nosu' and the same ancient root that gives us Latin 'nasus' and the word 'nostril.'
- oscar bait
- plays dead, tongue lolling, even flips you back over
- upturned snout
- that pig-nose is a built-in digging shovel
- mild venom
- rear-fanged but basically harmless to humans
- hood flare
- puffs up cobra-style before resorting to theatrics
- toad specialist
- resistant to toxins that kill other predators
eastern hognose snake — venomous north american species that plays dead by flipping upside down when threatened
western hognose snake — rear-fanged snake found from canada to mexico, popular in pet trade
southern hognose snake — smallest hognose species native to southeastern united states