Good snake has the wife worried

Went down to my shop just awhile ago and spotted this little guy headed for one of the outbuildings next to my shop.






Probably looking for a toad (of which we have plenty).

Text'd a picture of it to my wife before coming back up to the house and she wanted to know if I had killed it?

Of course....I did not. She asked me 'why not'...and "what if it comes up in the yard and Maddie (our Dachshund) finds it"?

I told her it was harmless and wouldn't bother the dog. In fact, it will get rid of some of the toads in the back yard which "Maddie" routinely bites...then comes in the house foaming at the mouth.

She said "Well.....it STILL looks scary"! Which they do.

cobra!

^^^^^^ Yeah, they try to act like a "cobra" but they are very docile snakes (Eastern Hognose).

This one 'spread out' right away and started all the 'hissing' stuff they do, but normally you have to mess with them a bit before they'll put on a show.

IF the (I'm a big-bad Snake) thing doesn't work, they will turn over on their back and play dead. Kind of like my Brother-In-Law.

Pretty cool looking snakes and good to have around. You did right.

Good snake for sure.

We call them puff nanner's around here. Ours are colored a little like copperheads.

Very cool. Never seen one around here.

Very cool snake. I always wondered why they act like a cobra when they don't share habitat or even the same continent...

I have seen them act like a rattler too.

Neat snakes, we use to find them growing up in WV

Nice pics. Don't see them often anymore.

I have never seen one.

good to let live

Well played. Cool pics.

Very cool. Never seen one puff up.

^^^^^^^^^^^
Yes, this one was unusually dark colored.


A more representative example (for here) is this one...I found a few years ago (within a few yards of the one I found yesterday).

Great looking snake....good to have around

I try not to kill any good snakes. Ive never seen one of these before, but you just saved the first one I find. I'm sure if I hadn't seen this and found one id have pictures of a real life south texas cobra I killed.

Never seen one either. If I happened upon one those doing the cobra thing, I think I would scream like a little girl.

You'd really love the 'hissing' they do. Some really put on a show. This one would raise his head off the ground, spread out his neck and 'hiss' unlike any I've heard before. This one was able to produce a 'rattling, gutteral sound that preceded the crescendo of his hiss', so amusing.

Most I have run across flatten out their head but don't raise it off the ground. This one did.

They also like to discharge a foul smelling 'musk'. If pressed....they roll over on their backs and play dead.

I don't generally 'harass' them....but I have tried to get one to 'strike' a stick...or my boot, but its almost impossible to get them to be that defensive.

Oddly, they are mildly 'venomous' but pose no threat to humans. They have fixed fangs near the rear of their mouth, but don't have a venom 'sac' per se. The venom that they do have is more aptly described as a mildly toxic 'saliva'. Enough to semi-sedate a toad...but of no concern to humans.

Pretty cool snake.

They are very cool snakes and I would love to see one up close.

I just told my wife to look at this snake and I said what is it? She says some sort of viper right? Women

Been a while since I have seen one. My granddad called them "spread nadder" or something to that effect. I finally got my wife conviced to leave all harmless snakes alone and we have not seed a rattlesnake around the house in 2-3 years now.

Never seen one. I'd have probably thought it was a cottonmouth-cobra hybrid and blasted the thing!