By Joshua Tyler
| Revealed 1 hour in the past
As an animal lover, I strongly advocate for the conservation and safety of endangered species. Besides, after all, relating to snakes. They’ve it coming.
People scored a uncommon victory over our snake antagonists this week when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed including the Southern Hognose Snake (Heterodon simus) to the endangered species checklist. These snakes nonetheless exist on the plains of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas. They used to even be plentiful in locations like Mississippi and Alabama, however have since vanished.
The Southern Hognose Snake just isn’t toxic, however it’s a jerk. This species is thought for dramatic defensive behaviors, together with hissing, hooding its neck like a cobra, and even taking part in lifeless when threatened. It’s simply acknowledged by its upturned snout, used for digging, and it hardly ever exceeds 24 inches in size.
If the Southern Hognose Snake had been to fade totally tomorrow, it might haven’t any important affect on the native ecologies it’s concerned in. It primarily eats frogs and is itself meals for different predators. These different predators would eat the additional frogs as a substitute of the Hognose, eliminating the intermediary. No drawback in any respect right here.
This looks as if a transparent win for people. Subsequent time, let’s goal for a extra venomous member of the enemy snake military, although, associates. They have to be taught a lesson.
