Eastern Hognose Snake
Heterodon platirhinos • Colubridae (Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Colubridae, Subfamily: Dipsadinae, Genus: Heterodon, Species: H. platirhinos)
Eastern half of the United States, extending from southern Canada (Ontario) south to Florida, and west to Minnesota, Kansas, and Texas.
Look up Eastern Hognose Snake in the Snake Encyclopedia →Family
Colubridae (Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Colubridae, Subfamily: Dipsadinae, Genus: Heterodon, Species: H. platirhinos)
Conservation
IUCN Red List status: Least Concern (LC). However, localized population declines occur due to habitat loss, road mortality, and intentional killing due to misidentification as venomous snakes.
Physical Description
Stout body with strongly keeled dorsal scales and an upturned rostral scale (snout) used for digging. Highly variable coloration ranging from dark grey, black, brown, to yellow or orange, often with dark blotches along the back. The specimen in the image exhibits a dark gray-black ground color with distinct lighter yellowish/tan crossbands or dorsal blotches.
Size & Dimensions
Specimen appears to be an adult around 50 to 70 cm. Typical adult size for this species ranges from 50 to 85 cm (20 to 33 inches), with maximum recorded lengths reaching around 115 cm (45 inches).
Habitat
Prefers environments with loose, sandy soils suitable for burrowing, including pine forests, open woodlands, fields, coastal dunes, and agricultural areas. Found from sea level up to moderate elevations.
Diet & Feeding
Specialized feeder primarily consuming toads (Anaxyrus species) and frogs, though occasionally eating salamanders, small mammals, and invertebrates. They use their enlarged rear teeth to puncture inflated toads to swallow them easily.
Reproduction
Oviparous (egg-laying). Females lay clutches of 10 to 30 eggs (sometimes up to 50) in underground nests during late spring or early summer, which hatch in late summer or early autumn.
Look-alikes
Frequently confused with venomous species such as Pygmy Rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius), Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), or Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) due to its stout body, keeled scales, blotched pattern, and hood-flattener display.
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List status: Least Concern (LC). However, localized population declines occur due to habitat loss, road mortality, and intentional killing due to misidentification as venomous snakes.
Cultural Significance
Known colloquially as the 'puff adder', 'blow viper', or 'hissing adder' due to its dramatic defensive displays. Plays a key role in controlling toad and amphibian populations in its ecosystems.
Notable Features
Distinctive upturned spade-like snout scale used for digging up buried toads, highly specialized toad-puncturing rear teeth, resistance to toad toxins, and dramatic death-feigning (thanatosis) defensive display.