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Eastern Massasauga vs Eastern Hog-nosed Snake
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erinsuzanne, no rights reserved
Eastern Massasauga
Sistrurus catenatus
VenomousAdam DeHollander, no rights reserved
Eastern Hog-nosed Snake
Heterodon platirhinos
Mildly venomousThe quick way to tell
Check the snout. The Eastern Hog-nosed has an upturned, pointed tip like a pig's nose. The massasauga has a blunt, rounded snout on a broad triangular head, plus a rattle on its tail.
Head ★ This settles it
Small triangular head with nine large plates on top and a dark stripe through the eye.
Sharply upturned snout; spreads its neck wide like a cobra when alarmed.
Pattern
Large dark brown squarish blotches down a gray back, smaller spots along the sides.
Very variable - blotched orange, brown, gray or olive, or plain black with no pattern.
Eyes
Vertical slit pupil; heat-sensing pit between eye and nostril.
Round pupil, with the upturned snout above; no heat-sensing pit.
Pits
A deep heat-sensing pit on each side of the face, between the eye and the nostril.
None. There is no pit between the eye and the nostril.
Tail
Small, with a tiny buzzy rattle.
Underside of the tail is lighter than the belly; no rattle.
What it does
Freezes and stays still; rarely rattles or strikes.
Hisses loudly, strikes with its mouth shut, then flops over and plays dead.
Where it lives
Great Lakes region and upper Midwest: western New York, western Pennsylvania and Ontario west through Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin to eastern Iowa (now gone from Missouri and Minnesota).
Eastern US: southern New Hampshire and Ontario south through Florida, west to Minnesota, southeastern South Dakota, Kansas and Texas.