Gopher Snake
Pituophis catenifer • Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Colubridae, Subfamily: Colubrinae, Genus: Pituophis, Species: P. catenifer
Western North America, stretching 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, with widespread populations facing localized threats from habitat loss and road mortality.
Physical Description
Features a patterned back with a series of dark blotches (brown, black, or reddish-brown) over a lighter yellowish, cream, or gray background. The head is slightly distinct from the neck, and scales are keeled. The underside is yellowish with dark spots.
Size & Dimensions
Specimen is approximately 2 to 3 feet long. Adults typically range from 3 to 7 feet (90 to 210 cm) in total length.
Habitat
Found in a wide variety of habitats from sea level up to high elevations, including prairies, scrublands, deserts, chaparral, agricultural fields, and coniferous forests. Prefers areas with loose soil for burrowing.
Diet & Feeding
Feeds primarily on small mammals such as mice, rats, and gophers, as well as birds, eggs, and occasionally lizards. Hunts by actively foraging and constricting prey.
Reproduction
Oviparous species, females lay clutches typically ranging from 3 to 24 eggs in underground burrows or beneath debris during the summer months.
Look-alikes
Often confused with rattlesnakes due to similar coloration and pattern, as well as defensive behaviors like tail-shaking and hissing, but lacks the rattles at the end of the tail and has round pupils.
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List status is Least Concern, with widespread populations facing localized threats from habitat loss and road mortality.
Cultural Significance
Valuable ecological role as a natural predator of agricultural pests like rodents. Frequently misunderstood and killed out of confusion with venomous rattlesnakes.
Notable Features
Known for a dramatic defensive display that includes hissing loudly (aided by an epiglottal tracheal sleeve), flattening its head, vibrating its tail rapidly in dry leaves to mimic a rattlesnake, and striking.