Standing near the beach in Ocean City, Maryland, on a recent family trip, Roxanne Flanagan startled when she heard her daughter screaming.
“I ran down there to see what was going on,” Flanagan told The Dodo. “As I’m running, all I hear her scream is, ‘It’s a snake, it’s a snake.’ And I’m like, ‘No, it’s probably just a stick that had just washed up from the shore.’”
But it turns out the little girl was right. The figure wasn’t a stick at all. However, she had no reason to be scared — she’d spotted a harmless eastern hog-nosed snake slithering through his sandy home.
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Roxanne Flanagan
Eastern hog-nosed snakes are not dangerous. In fact, they’ll do almost anything to avoid us.
“[They’re] so non-confrontational that they frequently roll over and play dead when they encounter humans,” Maryland Department of Natural Resources herpetologist Beth Schlimm told The Dodo.
According to Schlimm, these snakes are commonly found in sandy areas, as these habitats contain lots of tasty prey for them to snack on. They’re named for their shovel-like, upturned noses, which they use to dig food out of the sand. It’s no surprise that the snake was on the beach. However, his presence near humans was likely a mistake, given his avoidant nature.
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Roxanne Flanagan
Flanagan encouraged her kids to step away from the snake. They gave the animal plenty of distance and watched as he attempted to swim into the waves. After a while, they decided to call local experts for advice.
Eventually, Ocean City Animal Control team members arrived and safely relocated the snake to a suitable habitat nearby, farther from the crowds.
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Kevin Stohlgren, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
If everyone does their part to protect the natural areas where these snakes live, these nervous, scaly animals will be able to keep their distance and live their lives in peace.
“The biggest threat to the eastern hog-nosed snake is loss of habitat,” Schlimm said. “The best thing that people can do to protect the eastern hog-nosed snake is help preserve the wild places that these snakes call home.”