A stout, upturned-snouted North American colubrid famous for hissing, flattening its neck, and then playing dead when bluffing fails.
Description
The eastern hognose snake is a thickset snake under a metre long with a distinctive upturned, shovel-like snout. Colour and pattern are highly variable — tan, yellow, olive, grey, or jet black — usually with darker blotches but melanistic individuals are common in some populations.
Behavior
When threatened, hognose snakes inflate the neck like a cobra, hiss loudly, and lunge with closed mouth. If the bluff fails they roll onto the back, gape, and play dead convincingly. They are specialised toad predators, with rear fangs and a mild venom adapted to that prey.
Range
The eastern hognose ranges across the eastern and central United States from southern Ontario to Florida and west to Kansas. Two other hognose species occupy the western states, the Plains states, and southern Mexico.
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