Bull Snake

The bull snake is a large, robust constrictor native to prairies and plains of central North America, valued by farmers for its role in controlling rodent populations. It is best known for an impressive defensive display involving loud hissing and body flattening that can startle observers into mistaking it for a rattlesnake.

Despite its intimidating bluff, the bull snake is harmless and non-venomous, relying entirely on constriction to subdue prey.

• Large, heavy-bodied snake, yellowish to tan background with dark brown or black blotches
• Blotches often darker and more distinct toward the tail
• Small, narrow head not clearly distinct from the neck, with round pupils
• Keeled scales giving a somewhat rough texture
• Distinguished from rattlesnakes by lack of a rattle, round pupils, and narrower head

Inhabits open prairies, grasslands, agricultural fields, and sandy plains across the central and western United States and southern Canada, often using rodent burrows for shelter.

Diurnal and an active hunter, largely feeding on rodents, ground-nesting birds, and eggs, which it kills by constriction. Known for a loud hissing bluff and body-flattening display when threatened, sometimes vibrating its tail in leaf litter to mimic a rattlesnake. Egg-laying, with clutches typically of 5-20 eggs.