Gophersnake
Pituophis catenifer • Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Colubridae, Subfamily: Colubrinae, Genus: Pituophis, Species: P. catenifer
Widely distributed across western North America, ranging from British Columbia, Canada, through the western United States down into northern Mexico.
Look up Gophersnake 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, though local populations face threats from habitat loss, fragmentation, and road mortality.
Physical Description
Features a patterned back with dark brown or black blotches (often square or rectangular) on a lighter yellowish, cream, or grey background. The head is slightly distinct from the neck, eyes have round pupils, and the scales are keeled, giving a somewhat rough texture.
Size & Dimensions
The specimen shown appears to be a medium-sized adult or subadult, roughly 3 to 4 feet in length. Total length for the species typically ranges from 36 to 72 inches (90 to 180 cm), with occasional maximums exceeding 8 feet.
Habitat
Found in a wide variety of habitats including grasslands, deserts, brushlands, agricultural areas, coniferous forests, and chaparral, from sea level up to elevations of around 9,000 feet.
Diet & Feeding
Feeds primarily on small mammals such as mice, rats, gophers, voles, and occasionally birds and their eggs. They are active foragers that frequently hunt inside burrows and dispatch prey via constriction.
Reproduction
Oviparous species, females typically deposit clutches ranging from 3 to 24 eggs in underground burrows or beneath rocks and decaying logs during the summer months.
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List status is Least Concern, though local populations face threats from habitat loss, fragmentation, and road mortality.
Cultural Significance
Plays a highly beneficial ecological role as a natural predator of agricultural rodent pests. Frequently encountered by humans in rural and suburban interface zones.
Notable Features
Famous for their dramatic displays, which include inflating their bodies, hissing loudly (aided by a specialized epiglottal fold), and vigorously vibrating their tails in dry leaf litter to mimic rattlesnakes.