Underside

Color Photographs: U.S. Forest Service

Color Photograph: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Western Hognose Snake (Heterodon nasicus)

Identification: Snake 16 to 35 inches in length. A heavy bodied snake. Head wide with the snout turned upward at its apex. Coloration variable including tan, gray, brown, or yellow-gray. Dorsal surface with square dark blotches along the dorsal surface of the body. These blotches are interspersed with smaller, round blotches below the midline of the animal. Belly light but heavily mottled with black. Underside of tail not distinctly lighter than the rest of the belly. Scales keeled and anal plate divided.

Geographical Variability:

Plains Hognose Snake (H. n. nasicus): More than 35 midline dorsal blotches in males and over 40 in females; nine or more small scales situated between the prefrontal scales on the head. Range: Alberta and Manitoba in the north southward to Oklahoma, southern New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle district.

Dusty Hognose Snake (H. n. gloydi): Fewer than 32 midline dorsal blotches in the males and fewer than 37 in females; nine or more small scales situated between the prefrontal scales on the head. Range: Southeastern Kansas, Texas except for the Panhandle and in the southern Rio Grande Valley.

Mexico Hognose Snake (H. n. kennerlyi): Six or fewer small scales situated between the prefrontal scales on the head. Range: Mexico into southern Texas and westward into southern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona.

Range (see map below left): The range of the Western Hognose Snake stretches in a band through the prairie states from the southern Prairie Provinces in the north to Texas and New Mexico in the south. The range extends southward into Mexico.

Habitat: This species is found in well drained prairie soils throughout most of its range, but also occurs in scrubland and floodplains.

Food: The Western Hognose Snake feeds on a variety of small vertebrates include frogs and toads, lizards, other snakes, and small mammals and birds.

Behavior: In common with the other species of the genus, the Western Hognose Snake has a unique defensive behavior. If threatened it rears up, inflates its neck and body, hisses, and then pretends to strike. If this doesn't work, the snake rolls over exposing its belly and opening its moth. This attitude is usually interpreted as "playing dead". The species is a burrower and uses its digging prowess to escape extremes in heat and cold. It is most active in the morning and late afternoon.

Reproduction:  The clutch consists of 4 to 23 eggs. The eggs are laid from June to August and are usually deposited in loam or sand.

Western Hognose Snake (Heterodon nasicus)

Similar Species:

The three North American species of Heterodon are all easily recognized by the wide head and mouth and the upturned snout.

Eastern Hognose Snake (Heterodon platyrhinos)

Southern Hognose Snake (Heterodon simus)