Click to Enlarge Hognose snakes only pretend to be dangerous. Their unique upturned nose (right) helps them dig into burrows where toads, their favorite food, rest during the day. Click to Enlarge TheBig Bag of Tricks Check out all of these hognose snake adaptations: 1.Spreading neck to look bigger 2. Hissing sound to scare 3. Releasing bad odor to avoid danger 4. Striking again and again as a threat 5. Shaking and twisting to look sick 6. Playing dead for 5 minutes or more 7. Spitting up last night’s meal 8. Opening mouth wide to look mean 9. Using its shovel nose for digging 10. Hiding with great camouflage   The Big Bluffer by Gretchen Mominee Hognose snakes have a big bag of tricks to help them escape predators. Imagine hiking along a Missouri path and suddenly encountering a snake. Usually a snake vanishes as quickly as it can. This time, though, the startled snake hisses loudly and flattens its head much like a cobra. Meet the hognose snake, nicknamed the "hissing viper" or "puff adder." Of course, the display is designed to scare you away. If it doesn't, you may be in for more of the snake's tricks. Like many other species of snakes, the hognose is able to release a stinky musk to stop predators from coming closer and eating it. This method of self-defense is similar to how a skunk uses odor to avoid trouble. Sometimes hognose snakes will also pretend to bite, striking or lunging repeatedly without ever opening their mouths. If none of these adaptations for survival work, the hognose will twist and shake then flop onto its back and play dead. If the snake has recently eaten, it will often spit up or regurgitate a partially digested meal for extra effect. Eventually, the hognose decides the coast is clear, flips back over and leaves. If the snake is faking it, the "dead" giveaway is that if you flip it right side up, it will immediately roll right back over onto its back. The hognose is named for the way its nose turns upwards, sort of like a pig's snout. That strange snout is a great adaptation, too. The nose serves as a shovel to help hognose snakes dig into loose soil or sand and find toads to eat, their favorite food. They also eat frogs, lizards, reptile eggs and other food. Hognose snakes hunt most in the late morning and early afternoon. They can smell toads that are hidden in burrows, and they use their nose to dig them out. Hognose snakes are found only in North America. There are three species: the eastern hognose, the southern hognose and the western hognose. The western hognose has two subspecies in Missouri, the plains hognose and the dusty hognose, found in only four counties. The eastern hognose is found throughout Missouri, mostly in sandy areas of river valleys. Each species ranges widely in color from brown to gray to red and nearly everything in between. They are usually patterned, although sometimes they are a solid color. Although the hognose snakes pretends to be dangerous, it is not considered a threat to people. People used to believe they were venomous, but they neither spit nor breathe venom. If they did bite, the amount of toxin in their saliva isn't enough to harm you. No one can explain exactly why hognose snakes have to have so many different ways to scare, fool or disgust potential predators. The only animals known to eat them are hawks and large snakes. But they must have derived some advantage from these adaptations, or they wouldn't be part of the hognose snake's extraordinary inherited behavior. How to Identify a Hognose Snake The hognose snake is often confused with the venomous copperhead snake. They may look similar, but they are easy to tell apart. Hognose, brown coloring (non-venomous) Hognose, red coloring (non-venomous) Copperhead (venomous) Click to Enlarge ALIKE: Both are about 20 to 30 inches long, with thick bodies. Their color varies from tan, gray and yellow to brown or olive. DIFFERENCES: The hognose snake has a sharply turned-up snout and has 20 to 30 blotchy, dark brown markings on its back. The copperhead has brown, hourglass-shaped markings with white outlines on its back and is pinkish-tan. Hognose snakes are most active during the day, while copperheads usually hunt at night in the summer. Hognoses have round pupils in their eyes and copperheads have cat-like eyes. Finally, the hognose snake will perform a series of tricks to scare you away, but a copperhead remains still when startled.