An East Coast Cobra?

By Joseph Parish

As they often say true life events can most likely is more exciting then fiction? My experience with an alleged “Cobra” represents one of these situations. Years ago my wife and I were casually driving down the highway when I noticed a snake off on the side of the road in a field. This snake was in an upright position with a hooded head similar to that which one would find with a cobra. Needless to say I hit my brakes very quickly.

My first thoughts were “Where did a cobra come from in the state of Delaware?”

I threw my car in reverse gear and quickly returned to the spot where I first saw the snake. I grabbed my jacket and leaped from the car while instructing my wife to call 911 on the cell phone. I ran across the street to where I had last saw the snake and began searching the area for it. About this time a Delaware State Trouper vehicle pulls up and the lady gets out of her vehicle with a shotgun in hand.

I asked her what she was going to do with the gun and she quickly replied that she was about to shoot my alleged “Cobra”. I in turn informed here that if I had known she was going to shoot it I would not have called. I had expected that animal control would have showed up and taken the animal alive if at all possible.

After searching the area for some time we were unable to locate the snake however upon returning home I jumped onto the internet and began doing some serious research. It appears that the “Cobra” which I thought I saw was nothing more then an Eastern Hognose snake.

Needless to say I felt rather silly and embarrassed.

I proceeded to research this snake and soon discovered that the little creature was really quit remarkable. When confronted the hognose snake’s first defense is to appear as aggressive as it possibly can. It will spread its neck in a horizontal direction and inflate its body. You can hear it hiss at you very loudly and it will even attempt to strike at you. Regardless of how mean and dangerous this snake is attempting to look it is nothing more then an act as this reptile is as harmless as a baby. Even when it strikes at you, should it actually make contact the snake will have its mouth closed and thus be unable to actually bite you.

After it realizes that its aggressive behavior didn’t work and you are still there it will pretend to die. It automatically assumes that nothing will bother it if it is not living. It will squirm for a bit then lie on the ground with its mouth open and tongue loosely dangling out. It will roll on its back and remain completely motionless in its portrayal of a dead snake. If you should decide to pick up this creature at this time it will remain completely limp and give you the impression that it really is dead. Should you leave it alone for a few minutes it will regain its composure and quickly depart your company?

The Hognose’s diet consists mostly of toads which it hunts in the various burrows during the daylight hours. It will use its upturned nose in an effort to root the toads out of their burrows.  

The adult Eastern Hognose is usually no more then about thirty inches long. Their color pattern may vary in color from black, gray, brown, yellow or even orange.

I eventually caught one to use as a pet but soon found that it refused to eat and I left the harmless snake go. I learned a lot about this snake during my “Cobra” experience and my wife will not soon let me forget this humorous episode.

Copyright @2008 Joseph Parish