Eastern Hognose Snake

Heterodon platyirhinos

The Eastern Hognose Snake is a Reptile from the family Colubridae.  They are often misidentified as a venomous snake because of the thick blunt head and dark markings.  No venom gland are present in the Eastern Hognose snake.  They do have a defensive behavior that is very intimidating to some predators.  They will rear up and sway back and forth while sucking in air to inflate their body to appear bigger.  They can release this air and it will make a loud hissing noise.  If this fails to work it may try flopping over on it's back with it's tongue hanging out trying to appear dead.

The hognose snake comes in many different colors such as yellow, gray, light brown, black, and olive.  Although they may range in many different colors, they all have large dark spots along their back. The colors alternate from a dark color to a lighter one in series of 20-31 blotches.  The tail alternates colors as well with light and dark rings. A dark line is located from the eye to the angle of the mouth, as well as a large dark blotch on each side of the neck. The belly is usually yellow, gray, or pinkish brown with irregular dark splotches; the tail is even lighter than that of the belly.  The length of this snake usually ranges from 20-33 inches in length. This information was taken from Park Education 

They range from the east coast into Texas and as far north as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.  They may be seen all across Missouri.  

Hognose Snakes at Camp

Almost every summer someone will find an Eastern Hognose snake on the ranch and the staff will bring it into the Reptile Room at the Animal Learning Center for observation.  We always release these snakes as they are native to our state and live in the wild.