Windwolf
Crex Meadows ... Wildlife on the Meadows ... Eastern Hog-nosed Snake
Eastern Hog-nosed Snake
Heterodon platirhinos
The pictures on this page were taken June 17, 2008 and are of the same snake.
I was photographing butterflies along Phantom Lake road when I heard hissing noises coming from nearby. I signaled to my Crex companion that we had more going on than just butterflies.
This Eastern Hog-nosed snake had been warming itself alongside the road and did not approve of our intrusion into its basking area!
Eastern hog-nosed snakes consume amphibians, mainly toads, but they will also eat small mammals, birds, birds eggs (ground nesters), insects, lizards, snakes, and carrion.
Eastern hog-nosed snakes are not constrictors and swallow their prey alive.
This is a medium to large snake that may be 24 to 46 inches long and has a very stout body.
There can be much variation in pattern and color and two phases may be found: spotted and solid. Spotted specimens have a brown or yellow ground color with darker brown or black blotches. The ground color on solid individuals may be black, gray, or olive.
Eastern hog-nosed snakes use several defense measures, one of which is flattening their heads to make themselves look bigger, as in the pictures above.
The Eastern hog-nosed snakes will rear back as though ready to strike when threatened, but will seldom actually bite.
Eastern Hog-nosed Snakes are strongly associated with sand soils and they use their upturned snout to dig in sandy soils using a side to side, sweeping motion.
Another common defense measure the Eastern hog-nosed snake will use is playing dead. The snake in the picture above is exhibiting that behavior. If you put the snake upright, it will roll back over belly up, mouth open and tongue hanging out.
The picture to the right is a close up of the scales. Its part of the dark spot along the neck and the lighter brown that runs along the Eastern hog-nosed snakes back.
Once we were done with this snake, we moved it a bit further from the road and left to photograph other things along the road.
After a few minutes, I spotted our snake swimming away to a quieter place in the meadows.
This Eastern hog-nosed snake was around three feet long, which is a pretty good size for these guys.