Description: Adults are 14 to 24 inches in total length. Stout with a wide neck and a sharply upturned snout, they usually have 25 rows of keeled dorsal scales at midbody. The dorsal color pattern consists of a light brown, yellowish, grayish, or reddish ground color, overlaid with a distinct row of dark blotches that alternate with smaller blotches on the flanks. The belly is distinctly darker in color than the underside of the tail in juveniles. As the snake ages, the underside usually becomes a pale white.

Habitat: The native habitats of Heterodon simus are xeric grasslands such as longleaf pine sandhill, upland pine forest, and scrubby flatwoods. In some areas, populations persist in mosaics of overgrown pastures, dry river floodplains, fields, and pine plantation.

Range: The Southern hognose snake is found on the coastal plain of the southeastern United States from North Carolina, south to Lake Okeechobee in Florida, and west to Mississippi.

Found in these States: AL | FL | GA | MS | NC | SC

Diet: Heterodon simus preys upon toads, frogs (especially Hyla gratiosa and Pseudacris ornata), spadefoots, and mice.

Reproduction: This species is oviparous. mature adults mate from April through August. The thin-shelled, leathery, whitish eggs are laid in clutches of 6 to 14. After 55 to 60 days the eggs hatch. Each hatchling is 6 to 7 inches in total length.

Status: Listed as Vulnerable because the population size is estimated to number fewer than 10,000 mature individuals, there is a continuing decline of mature individuals estimated at >10% over the last three generations (15 to 30 years), and no subpopulation is estimated to contain more than 1,000 mature individuals.

Taxonomy: