THE NUGGET (Ontario) 20 July 07 Snake saved from slippery situation; Ministry considers hognose a species at risk (Bryn Weese)
An eastern hognose snake has shown its scaly, upturned nose in North Bay.
The Ministry of Natural Resources office in the city got a call Thursday morning from a resident on Pollard Avenue near Memorial Drive about a snake stuck in the lattice under a deck.
Tanya Ingwersen, a technical specialist in wildlife with the MNR, said the eastern hognose snake - about 75 centimetres long - was safely recovered and taken to the ministry office for monitoring.
The eastern hognose, which can reach up to a metre in length but poses no danger to humans, is considered a species at risk.
North Bay is at the northern extremity of its range.
"There are so few of them out there that it is an interesting thing to have them showing up where they are," Ingwersen said, noting that every five years the city gets an increase in the number of hognose sightings. "This time of year is when the females will lay their eggs, so that's what we're thinking, that these snakes are females coming from somewhere trying to get to the beaches on Lake Nipissing's waterfront to lay their eggs."
The eastern hognose is on the species at risk list, Ingwersen said, likely because of its specific habitat requirements. Not only does it need sand to lay its eggs, but because it feeds almost exclusively on toads, it needs sandy soil to feed.
The name hognose comes from the snake's upturned nose, which it uses to burrow into the sand to root out toads trying to avoid the summer sun's heat.
When threatened, the hognose lifts its head, flattens its neck, sways back and forth and hisses just like a Cobra, Ingwersen said. If that doesn't work, it plays dead.
"It will roll over on its back and even let a few drops of blood drip out the side of its mouth just to help convince the predator that it is really dead," she said.
The MNR asks anyone who spots what they think might be an eastern hognose snake to call the ministry office to report its whereabouts. Given that it is a species at risk, Ingwersen suggests leaving the snake alone and letting it go about its business unless it is in danger. If that's the case, the MNR will remove it.
As for the hognose recovered Thursday, the MNR plans to release it back into the wild.
Snake saved from slippery situation