Terrifying Viral Video Of Snake's 'Death Performance' Leaves Viewers Stunned [Watch]

A spine-chilling video of a snake's "death performance" shared online by Georgia wildlife officials has gone viral.

The terrifying video shared by Georgia's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on their Facebook page Tuesday has fetched more than 37 Million views, GPB reported.

The video begins by showing a black reptile that closely resembles a cobra slithering in mud while hizzing around spreading its hood. The snake soon goes into frenzy coiling and attempts to tie itself into a knot. The reptile then flips over onto its back, opens its mouth wide while sticking out its forked tongue and flicks. As the 40-second video ends, the snake looks completely motionless and limp.

“Nope, not a cobra, in fact, it's not even a venomous snake," DNR said to the horrified viewers who watched the dramatic performance. They further explained that the video featured the defense mechanism of a native eastern hognose when it feels threatened.

"When this creepy critter feels threatened, it flares its neck and body by breathing in deeply and then expelling the air with an impressive hiss. If that doesn't work, a hognose will forcefully roll onto its back and begin to writhe violently as if in terrible pain," DNR said.

Hognose snakes are rare fanged and they rarely bite humans. They try to play dead and distract the predators. These snakes are also known to regurgitate their stomach contents, defecate, release musk and even bleed from their mouth as part of their "death performance."

“Talk about dedication...Does the hognose deserve an Academy Award?” DNR asked the viewers who agreed.

"Give that snake an Oscar…he performed better than some actors!!" a viewer commented. "I came across one. Thought I’d just make a big mistake when it stood up like a cobra I was the one rolling around playing dead," another said.

Hognose snakes belong to the family of Colubridae and got their name from the upturned snout, which they use for digging. Eastern hognose snakes are thick-bodied snakes, which are also called "puff adders," that grow up to around 46 inches in length. They are commonly found throughout Georgia, South Carolina and regions around southern Florida to central New England, the Great Lakes Region, and some regions of southern Canada. They primarily predate on toads and are capable of neutralizing the toad’s poisonous skin secretions physiologically. Hognose snakes typically lay 15 to 27 eggs underground.