Conservation Status: Protected (FWCA); Threatened (SARA; COSEWIC)

Size: 110 cm (43”)

Defining feature(s): As their name suggests, Eastern Hognose Snakes have a distinctive upturned rostral scale  The body is stout and the scales are keeled . Adults may be tan or brown with darker brown blotches or they may be a uniform light brown to gray colour.  Juveniles always have a blotched pattern.

Other features: Eastern Hognose Snakes have a keeled dorsal scales and stout bodies with a large well defined head.  When agitated, hognose snakes typically flare out a neck hood, hiss and strike (with closed mouths) and may eventually resort to playing dead if the aggressive display does not work.

Habitat: Hognose snakes prefer open forest, savannah, field and rocky alvar habitats with loose often sandy soils.  They are specialist feeders that prefer to eat toads and frogs.  The upturned nose assists in “rooting” out toads

Reproduction: Breeding occurs in the spring (April and May).  Females lay eggs in mid to late June or early July, which hatch after approximately 50 to 65 days.  Clutch size varies from 4 to 12 eggs.  Nesting behaviour may include the excavation of nests in sandy soil using the head and neck as a scoop to remove sand from the nest.