Color Photograph: © Nearctica.com, Inc.

Black Form

Color Photograph: Jeff Boundy, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

Mottled Form

Color Photograph: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Underside

Color Photograph: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Eastern Hognose Snake (Heterodon platyrhinos)

Identification: Snake 20 to 45 inches in length. A heavy bodied snake. Head wide with the snout turned upward at its apex. Coloration variable ranging from yellow to tan, brown, gray, or black. Non-black individuals have 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, mottled. Underside of tail distinctly lighter than the rest of the belly. Scales keeled and anal plate divided.

Geographical Variation: None.

Range (see map below): The Eastern Hognose Snake occurs throughout almost all of the eastern United States except for New England. Northward it extends into southern Ontario and westward to central Texas in the south and Kansas and Minnesota in the north.

Habitat: This species prefers dry soils and open woodlands including oak-hickory woods, thinly wooded hillsides, and pine forest. However it is also found in meadows and cultivated fields.

Food: Amphibians.

Behavior: The Eastern Hognose Snake (like its two cousins the Southern and Western Hognose Snakes) has a remarkable threat behavior. It rears up, inflates its neck and body, hisses, and then pretends to strike. Possibly this behavior is intended to mimic the Timber Rattlesnake and its can be very alarming the first time you see it. 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 Eastern Hognose Snake is diurnal. It is a strong burrower and spends the winter months buried in deep burrows in loose soil.

Reproduction:  The clutch consists of 4 to 60 eggs. The eggs and laid from July to July.

Eastern Hognose Snake (Heterodon platyrhinos)

Similar Species:

The wide mouth and head and the upturned snout make the three species of the genus Heterodon easy to distinguish from other snake species. These three species, however, and very similar and exhibit the same variation in color.

Western Hognose Snake (Heterodon nasicus)

Southern Hognose Snake (Heterodon simus)