Before calling mysub($args) $VAR1 = {'baz' => 2,'foo' => 1}; Inside mysub() $VAR1 = {'baz' => 2,'foo' => 101}; Inside othersub() $VAR1 = {'foo' => 101}; After calling mysub($args) $VAR1 = {'baz' => 2,'foo' => 1};