Pituophis melanoleucus melanoleucus

Also known as Northern Pine Snake, Eastern Pine Snake, White Pine Snake, Bull Snake

Northern pine snakes spend much of their lives underground, using an enlarged rostral scale on their snout to excavate deep burrows in loose sandy soil. When startled, they produce a startlingly loud, raspy hiss amplified by a specialized cartilaginous keel inside the epiglottis. Females often return to communal nesting sites year after year, tunneling several feet beneath open sandy clearings to deposit clutches of remarkably large, leathery eggs.