In the James Taylor song "Copperline" he mentions "Hercules and a hognose snake"... hognose snakes are plentiful in that peidmont region of North Carolina, not nearly as commonplace here in the mountains of Southwest Virginia, and usually only seen at nightfall. I chanced upon this grumpy little guy in the yard Wednesday afternoon. Hognoses are funny. They will pitch quite a fit, somehow having adapted this defensive strategy of imitating dangerous snakes, but they absolutely will not bite. If you corner them for long enough or touch them, they will go into convulsions and feign death. It can be hilarious the trouble they go to at convincing you they are dead. If you turn a 'dead' hognose right-side-up, he'll immediately flip over again. As soon as you leave, he checks to see if the coast is clear, and slithers away. Where did they get that!?
And my Bluebird hen returned and laid 6 eggs. (a new record) She's going to be mighty busy this year if all these hatch. I have seen 5 eggs before, but I don't recall more than 4 chicks.
