Gopher Snake
Pituophis catenifer • Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Colubridae, Subfamily: Colubrinae, Genus: Pituophis, Species: P. catenifer
Western North America, spanning from southwestern Canada through the western United States down into northern Mexico.
Look up Gopher Snake in the Snake Encyclopedia →Family
Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Colubridae, Subfamily: Colubrinae, Genus: Pituophis, Species: P. catenifer
Conservation
IUCN Red List status is Least Concern, as it has a wide distribution, large population, and high tolerance for modified habitats, though localized threats include road mortality and habitat fragmentation.
Physical Description
Features a yellowish, cream, or light tan background coloration marked with a series of dark brown, black, or reddish-brown blotches along the back and smaller spots on the flanks. The head is slightly distinct from the neck with a pointed snout and a dark bar running horizontally across the snout between the eyes.
Size & Dimensions
The pictured specimen is estimated around 3.5 to 4.5 feet long. Adults typically range from 36 to 72 inches (90 to 180 cm), with record individuals reaching up to 9 feet.
Habitat
Found in a wide variety of habitats including deserts, prairies, scrublands, brush, chaparral, agricultural lands, and open coniferous forests, ranging from sea level up to elevations of around 9,000 feet.
Diet & Feeding
Preys primarily on small mammals such as mice, voles, gophers, and rats, as well as birds, bird eggs, and occasionally lizards. Hunts by actively searching rodent burrows and subdues prey via constriction.
Reproduction
Oviparous species that mates in the spring. Females typically lay a clutch of 3 to 24 eggs in underground burrows or under decaying logs during summer, which hatch in late summer or early autumn.
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List status is Least Concern, as it has a wide distribution, large population, and high tolerance for modified habitats, though localized threats include road mortality and habitat fragmentation.
Cultural Significance
Highly beneficial ecologically for controlling agricultural pest rodent populations, though frequently feared and needlessly killed due to mistaken identity with rattlesnakes.
Notable Features
Known for a dramatic display when threatened, which includes inflating the body, hissing loudly (aided by an epiglottal tracheal sleeve), flattening the head into a triangular shape, and rapidly vibrating the tail against dry leaves to mimic the sound of a rattlesnake.