Heterdon simus
Description: Southern hognose snakes are fairly small, heavy-bodied snakes that reach about 24 inches in length. The photo is of a juvenile found in the front yard after raking some leaves.
Range and Habitat: Southern Hognose snakes were historically found in the Coastal Plain of the eastern United States from southern North Carolina to southern Mississippi and in most parts of Florida. However, this species has declined in recent years and is now only found in scattered locations in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
Habits: Southern hognose snakes are active strictly by day and are often seen on warm mornings in the spring and fall. They are highly fossorial (living underground) and are most often encountered crossing roads that pass through sandy habitats. When confronted, hognose snakes often put on an elaborate threat display: they hiss, spread the skin around their head and neck (like a cobra), and feign striking. Eventually, they will even play dead, rolling on their back and opening their mouth. Despite this fairly convincing show, southern hognose snakes virtually never bite.
Hognose snakes feed almost exclusively on toads, although they will occasionally consume other prey. They seem to be immune to poisons produced by toads, and are equipped with enlarged teeth (called rear fangs) in the back of their mouths that are used to puncture inflated toads so that they may be more easily swallowed. Female southern hognose snakes lay 6 - 14 eggs in sandy soil or logs in the early summer. The eggs hatch in late summer.
