The eastern hognose snake is one of the least known, less common and seldom seen snakes that live in Oakland County. When feeling threatened they puff up, raise their heads and put on one heck of a fierce and unforgettable “back away” display. That dramatic behavior earned them their well-deserved name of Puff Adder.  

The chances of ever seeing one of these harmless and non-venomous snakes is slim unless you are in the right habitat at the right time. However, I recently talked with someone who described a snake that he encountered in a sandy area at the Proud Lake State Recreation Area in Wixom. His description of that grayish thick-bodied snake fit the physical characteristics and behavior pattern of a hognose snake perfectly.   

As I searched my old notes, I found a quote that sets the tone for today’s hognose snake tale. “Imagine a snake that looks like a cobra, plays dead like an opossum and burrows like a mole and that’s the eastern hognose.” The accompanying photos and videos were all taken by me over the last few years on South Manitou Island, a 5,280 acre island in Lake Michigan that is part of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. 

The eastern hognose is a rather common snake on the island and I fully expect to see a few later this month when I return to the island for another forty-day tour of duty as a volunteer lighthouse keeper for our National Park Service. The island population of hognose snakes are all gray while those on the mainland vary in colors with some being yellowish gray with black markings. 

Last season, I had the pleasure of having a hognose snake that often sunned next to the historic island house where I stayed. That snake ignored my presence when I would sit outside after my lighthouse shifts were over. Toads often hopped around near the house and that’s what the snake wanted. When the hunt is on, the real drama begins. Toads, when feeling threatened, have the ability to rapidly inflate their lungs with air and that makes them look bigger than they really are and perhaps a dangerous creature to potential predators. However, the hognose has rear facing fangs that puncture the toad lungs, essentially deflating it like a balloon and making it easier to swallow.    

These amazing snakes are perhaps best known for their dramatic death feigning behavior if they feel threatened. If they don’t slither away to escape a threat, they bluff ferocious behavior by flattening their head and look like a cobra. If that doesn’t work it’s time for a high drama death-fake. They writhe about on their back, flip over a few times, roll out their tongue and then go complete still. This young one was still perfecting the act.

If you ever see a hognose, keep your camara near but keep in mind these non-venomous snakes pose no threat to humans and will make no effort to strike. It’s been four or five years since I last saw a hognose in Oakland County, but they are here and as the days warm up your chances of seeing one increases. 

For more about the Eastern Hognose snake watch this Michigan Department of Natural Resources snake video.

My friend Sue Jennings, who is a retired National Park Service biologist who worked at South Manitou Island shared this quote with me. “Hognose snakes are fascinating creatures. Although they may act fierce when puffing up, much like a cobra, and feign strikes, they are very benign, and often play dead when threatened. And like all snakes, observe from a distance so as not to cause them undue stress.” 

There is no doubt that hognose snakes are rare in Oakland County, but there are pockets of good habitat for them in Southeast Michigan. If by chance you ever see one, try to get a photo and let me know! Herpetologist Jim Harding shared his thoughts with me a few years ago: “I think hognose snakes are doing reasonably well in a few spots in the northern lower peninsula, plus the southwest and along the sandy area and dune woodlands of the west coast of Michigan. They are very rare in Southeast Michigan.” 

Jonathan Schechter is the Nature Education Writer for Oakland County Government and blogs about nature’s way, trails and wildlife on the Wilder Side of Oakland County.

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