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Reptiles of the United States
Snakes of the U.S.

Western Hognose Snake (Heterodon nasicus)


Adult Size: 16" to 35¼"

Description: Sharly upturned and pointed snout. Stout body with a broad neck. Tan, brown, gray, or yellowish-gray above with distinct or somewhat faded series of dark blotches down the back and 2 or 3 rows of side spots. Belly and underside of tail are distinctly patterrned with large black blotches. The scales are keeled in 23 rows with the anal plate being divided.

Habitat: Sand and gravelly soiled prairie scrubland, river floodplains. Found from sea level to 8,000 feet.

Breeding: Mates March to May. lays 4 to 23 elongated, thin-shelled eggs, 1½" long, in soft loamy or sandy soil, early June to late August depending on locality. Young, 6" to 7½" long, hatch in 7-9 weeks and reach maturity in 2 years.

Range: Southeastern Alberta and northwestern Manitoba, south to southeastern Arizona, Texas, and into northern Mexico. Isolated populations in Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas.

Diet: Toads, other amphibians, reptiles and their eggs, birds, and small mammals, some of which it digs out of sand with its snout.

Behavior: Primarily active during the morning and late afternoon hours, burrows into loose soil to escape hot or cold conditions. Most often observed crossing sandy roads in brushy or weedy sand prairie remnants. Widens the neck, hisses, and sometimes strikes when disturbed, then rolls onto its back and feigns death.

Conservation Status: This species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (v3.1, 2001). Species are listed as such due to their wide distribution, presumed large population, or because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category. The population trend is stable. Year assessed: 2007. However, it is listed as endangered in the state of Iowa, and threatened in Illinois and South Dakota. It is more common in the southern end of its range, where holds no particular conservation status.

Additonal Notes: Saliva is toxic to prey, and is injected with enlarged posterior teeth. Main predators are raptors and medium-sized mammals.

Subspecies:

Plains (or Western) Hognose Snake (H.n. nasicus) - more then 35 midline body blotches in males, more than 40 in females, 9 or more small scales between the prefrontal scales. Found frm southeastern Alberta and southwestern Manitoba south to western Oklahoma, the Texas panhandle, and southern New Mexico. Photo...

Dusky Hognose Snake (H.n. gloydi) - fewer than 32 midline body blotches in males, less than 37 in females, 9 or more small scales between the prefrontal scales. Found from southeastern Kansas through Texas except the panhandle, Trans-Pecos Texas, and the extreme southern Rio Grande Valley. Photo...

Mexican Hognose Snake (H.n. kennerlyi) - 6 or fewer small scales between the prefrontal scales. Found in Mexico to extreme southern Texas through the Trans-Pecos region into southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona. Photo...