Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi guys,
5:55 pm, 63 degrees, Sunny. Female is on the right, using her big boy as a head rest. The fidelity here is just stunning. I believe this particular berm will be their wintering quarters. What is really neat, is that SHE returns to him as much as HE is following her. Last night, she moved north a bit, and rooted in the soil around some hostas, and he stayed a 20 odd feet to her south. Today, they were in the same spot by 3 inches! I've been waiting to even find one competing male around.

Best,
Kenny

I'm surprised no one else has responded to your post. I'm sure many have read with interest. What a fascinating contribution to this forum, please keep us posted with updates!

LG

>>>>

Thanks for your nice comments. Well, I realize that this isn't a "field hognose" forum per se, and I even keep e. hognoses on my own (I have an F1 pair of WC before our laws changed here). But- the telemetry project has turned into a nice chance to see what these animals actually do each day in the wild. It has shed light on some husbandry issues for me, relating to how much they bask, how much the move, and even how much they stay on the surface. It started as a mentoring project, then moved into a real science project of sorts when a lot of what we were seeing was new data. These snakes, live in a mult-million dollar suburbia neighborhood, believe it or not...and are really a forest snake, rather then a sand plain snake. Their pair bonding might have developed because of this, but I'm baffled right now that I see so much pair bonding here (this is the 4th pair I have seen this with). Right now our nights hit low 40's (Saratoga Springs NY). Both snakes were inside a small hole on the side of a large elelctrical box as of last night. I'm not sure if they burrowed under the concrete area, or in the soil directly. Tonight I'm going to try to figure that out. But the two snakes, being full grown or near it, might be near 10 years old...and the house is almost exactly that age. So they could have been babies when the house was built, and actualy grew up knowing where this box was. They seem to know how to move to specific spots and return almost like sea turtles. I'd say it was all by odor/pheromones etc., but it just seems more like other forms of navigation. It can pour for days (which I would think would wash pheromones away), yet they can make a bee-line for a specific small area- sometimes ending up within 6 inches of a previous favorite spot. I'll try to get a post in every few weeks, until they are gone for the winter. Then I'll update next spring. The transmitter should last at least 365 days. It was implanted at the end of July.

Best,
Kenny

I for one do appreciate the updates. It validates something I have noticed in my own Easterns. My Easterns are much calmer and content when kept in pairs. And, as wierd as it sounds, normally when I open their bin, the female will immediately find the male and burrow under him. They are the only snakes I have that act in this manner. They seem to prefer being together.
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Jenea

2:3:1 Tricolor Hognose
2:2 Eastern Hognose
1:2 Western Hognose
0:2 Southern Hognose
0:0:3 Florida Redbelly Snakes
0:1 Gulf Coast Box Turtle
1:1 Red-eared Slider
0:0:3 Eastern Fence Lizards
2:0 Cats
1:1 Kids
1:0 Spouse

Here is a pic of one pair. I always find them like this, just hangin out.

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Jenea

2:3:1 Tricolor Hognose
2:2 Eastern Hognose
1:2 Western Hognose
0:2 Southern Hognose
0:0:3 Florida Redbelly Snakes
0:1 Gulf Coast Box Turtle
1:1 Red-eared Slider
0:0:3 Eastern Fence Lizards
2:0 Cats
1:1 Kids
1:0 Spouse

>>

I've noticed this a while ago as well in my captive hogs. I have even seen "twitching" that usually would accompany only breeding, occur in young hogs that are moving about on each other. And finding that in the wild they do seem to join up for periods of time, was very cool. I've seen black rat snakes bond up for a while, but never for as long or with such location fidelity. But remember, the bonding seems to be very seasonal, that is during the warm summer they appear (at least again UP HERE), to seperate and feed until re-meeting up. What will be VERY COOL, is if the female I am tracking's young are always fathered by this ONE male? That will be easy to prove through DNA next year. However, also in Ontario(published recently), they found that the female e. hogs there were promiscuous, that is that they mated with a lot of males over several days. This doesn't bother me much....in that behavior can and does change even in a species to suit the ecololgical needs. Maybe here in my area, bonding WORKS better? Or, maybe just not enough males in every population? Dunnooo yet...but I set to find out.

Very best,
Kenny

This is all very fascinating information and a great contribution to herpetology! I'm sure your studies will yield more usefull insight to eastern hognose husbrandry. Know one really knows for sure how certain snakes live year around. Kevin Fisher

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Kevin and everyone that has responded:

Thank you Kevin and great point. This is a bit rambling, sorry. All the observations one makes on a species, even in captivity, is valuable to the future of the species. I strongly believe, that observations made by the layman (really like me, I only have a BS in Science, and I am not in academia), can be valid and add to the overall knowledge of a species (and should). Obviuosly well funded research projects will sometimes get the most work done. But I really try in my personal herp talks etc., to try to relate to people/kids/adults that there is MORE we don't KNOW about how species behave, then we do. Tons of stuff is done on molecular research. Now we need TONS of stuff on how they live, behave, funcion as beings. One report of hibernation temperature, one report of how they feed, one report of how they death-feign, is not enough. This limits things to what I call: The field guide syndrome. Where, then, everyone thinks the normal behavior is what is written in ONE book based on ONE account. That's why the web and internet forums I think are revolutionizing the way we can really understand animals. Snakes are not passive animals that just sit around in the wild. They are dynamic creatures with complex behaviors we are only beginning to understand. Tracking them daily gives you a much different sense of what they are, and do. And it is damn fun. That doesn't mean everyone can or will be able to do it. That's understood.

Hognose snakes are an enigma, period. So the people that love them, are getting a chance to watch and learn about a snake that holds many mysteries. From their origins in North America, to their relationship among snakes, to their fossil record up to 25 million years ago- hognose snakes ROCK in so many ways that its just mind boggling. Venom, death-feigning, toxin resistance, unusual feeding methods, different muscles compared to most non-constrictor N.A. snakes, the amazing range of color morphs through their range; on and on and on. A forum like this, is valuable for ALL AGES as well. Some of the best ideas I have heard on herps in the wild have come from youngsters. Yea, there's the stuff you have to weed out, and the annoying posts like "my snake Buffy got my mom angry," Tolerance is really important even in a written forum. And well, I'm no longer a youngster myself, all though my wife would disagree with that. And my posts can even be ridiculous at times. A good friend of mine said I have the mind of a 5 year old and the body of a 40 year old. This was fine: since I'm 47!! HA. But I also remember what another friend also told me. If you want to do something that interests you, DO IT. Love what you do, do what you love. I was 7 years old when I caught my first hognose (40 friggin' years ago). They struck me then as odd, different snakes. They have held up to that X 1000. And I still watch them with awe.

My best suggestion to people that love hognoses or any creatures with a passion? Breeders or field people alike. TAKE NOTES, KEEP JOURNALS, and make sure they are dated. And, pass on you passion. Even if it is to one or two people a year. Pass it on. It will all contribute one day to the full understanding of species. Off to work.

Best,
Kenny

Could it be geomagnetic navigation? Or maybe they keep a watchful eye to the stars! Greenwich adherence?