The Slice
Hognose Snake Ambassador
8/20/2025 | 1m 24sVideo has Closed Captions
Dan Johnson with the Lake Superior Zoo fills us in on the habits of Jake the hognose snake, one...
Dan Johnson with the Lake Superior Zoo fills us in on the habits of Jake the hognose snake, one of their ambassador animals.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
The Slice is a local public television program presented by PBS North
The Slice
Hognose Snake Ambassador
8/20/2025 | 1m 24sVideo has Closed Captions
Dan Johnson with the Lake Superior Zoo fills us in on the habits of Jake the hognose snake, one of their ambassador animals.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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I'm Dan.
I'm the primary keeper for the Ambassador Animal collection here at Lake Superior Zoo.
And I'm here with our hog nose snake, Drake.
Drake here is native to the United States of the southwest.
So, Arizona, Nevada type of region.
So he likes to live in rather hot, drier climates, but he also likes to spend a lot of his time rooting around in the mud and digging in loose, sandy soil.
Now he'll eat just about anything.
He is, capable of getting his mouth around.
Such as really small mice, rodents, maybe baby birds or large insects, beetles and worms and such by the food he's most famous for.
He likes to eat poisonous toads, and he's actually the only species that is able to safely eat these toads without being poisoned himself.
Now this guy is a member of our Ambassador Animal Collection, so he works with our education staff.
He's really used to being held and handled by humans.
He's very used to being around people.
So that's why I have him out right now.
He has what some people consider to be venom, others consider to be just a very potent form of saliva.
In all honesty, if I were to be bitten by this guy, it would be about the equivalent equivalent of me being bitten by or being stung by a bee.
The vast majority of snakes, even those that are dangerous to humans, they don't actively hunt out humans.
They're actually a natural pest control.
So that's why it's really great to leave these guys be, to understand, even if you are afraid of them.
They do serve a very, very important purpose.
They have their place in the natural world.
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