I REALLY REALLY dislike snakes, but I couldn’t have asked for a more up close nature study than we got when an eastern hognose snake decided to eat a huge toad right by our front steps! At the time we didn’t know it was an eastern hognose snake. All I knew was I didn’t want that big snake so close to my house! We called one of the neighbor boys to come down, capture it and take it elsewhere. It took him some time to catch it (it was done eating the toad by then), and the poor snake got so upset that it upchucked not only the large toad you see in the picture below but also another earlier meal! Little did we know letting your meals come back up in times of stress is a characteristic of eastern hognose snakes. The other trait that caught us off guard is its cobra-like ability to fan its neck out in order to scare off any threats (in this case us!). I began wondering if we shouldn’t keep our distance. In the end, though, we realized the snake is very harmless. Regardless, I’m glad it went off to a new life away from my house, and believe it or not, the large toad lived, minus part of a back leg!
A Little of This, A Little of That 