Eastern Hog-nosed Snake
Heterodon platirhinos • Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Dipsadidae, Subfamily: Dipsadinae, Genus: Heterodon, Species: H. platirhinos
Eastern and central North America, ranging from southern Ontario south to Florida, and west to eastern Texas, Kansas, and Minnesota.
Look up Eastern Hog-nosed Snake in the Snake Encyclopedia →Family
Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Dipsadidae, Subfamily: Dipsadinae, Genus: Heterodon, Species: H. platirhinos
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, though locally threatened by habitat loss, road mortality, and intentional killing.
Physical Description
Stout-bodied with a slightly upturned snout, keeled scales, and a prominent pattern of dark blotches or spots over a tan, brown, yellowish, or reddish background, often with dark neck bands.
Size & Dimensions
Specimen shown is approximately 45-60 cm; typical adult total length ranges from 50 to 85 cm, with females growing larger.
Habitat
Prefers open, sandy-soiled areas such as open woods, fields, sandy plains, and coastal regions, utilizing loose soils for burrowing.
Diet & Feeding
Specialized diet consisting primarily of amphibians, especially toads, captured via active foraging and digging.
Reproduction
Oviparous species, laying clutches of 4 to 61 eggs (average around 25) in sandy underground nests during early summer.
Look-alikes
Commonly confused with various rattlesnakes, copperheads, or massasaugas due to its blotched pattern and defensive displays, but easily distinguished by the upturned snout and lack of rattles.
Conservation Status
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, though locally threatened by habitat loss, road mortality, and intentional killing.
Cultural Significance
Famous for its elaborate theatrical defensive displays, including hissing, flattening its neck like a cobra, and playing dead by rolling onto its back and emitting foul musk.
Notable Features
Possesses a modified rostral scale on the snout functioning as a plow for digging up burrowing prey like toads and excavating nesting sites.