Description: The Western hooknose snake is a small species, growing to 14+3/8 inches in total length (including tail). It is gray or grayish brown in color, with 25 to 48 dark brown or black blotches down the back, and a cream-colored underside. It has a slightly upturned snout, to which the common name, "hooknose", refers. The smooth dorsal scales are arranged in 17 rows at midbody.

One of the primary defensive behaviors of G. canum is to make a popping noise with its cloaca, i.e., farting. According to an article in the August, 2000 issue of Discover magazine, during a laboratory experiment carried out by Bruce Young, a morphologist at Lafayette College, the snakes only farted when they felt threatened, and some farted so energetically that they lifted themselves off the ground.

Habitat: The Western hooknose snake prefers slightly sandy habitats, near a permanent water source.

Range: G. canum is found in the United States, from western Texas to southeastern Arizona, and into northern and central Mexico.

Found in these States: AZ | NM | TX

Diet: The diet of G. canum consists primarily of spiders and centipedes, but it will also eat small snakes and scorpions.

Reproduction: The Western hooknose snake is oviparous. Sexually mature females may lay up to 5 eggs in June.

Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of the fairly large and probably relatively stable extent of occurrence, area of occupancy, number of subpopulations, and population size. This species is not threatened in most of its range.

Taxonomy: Gyalopion canum, commonly known as the Western hooknose snake, is a species of small colubrid snake endemic to the deserts of the United States and Mexico. It is sometimes referred to as the Chihuahuan hook-nosed snake because it is commonly found in the Chihuahuan Desert.