Gopher Snake / Bullsnake
Pituophis catenifer • Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Colubridae, Subfamily: Colubrinae, Genus: Pituophis, Species: Pituophis catenifer
Widespread across North America, ranging from southwestern Canada through much of the central and western United States down into northern and central Mexico.
Look up Gopher Snake / Bullsnake in the Snake Encyclopedia →Family
Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Colubridae, Subfamily: Colubrinae, Genus: Pituophis, Species: Pituophis catenifer
Conservation
Least Concern (IUCN Red List). Populations are generally stable and widespread, though local declines occur due to habitat loss, road mortality, and intentional killing due to misidentification.
Physical Description
Elongated body with a light yellow, tan, or cream background color overlaid with large dark brown, reddish-brown, or black blotches along the back. Dorsal scales are keeled. The head features a pointed snout with a distinctive enlarged rostral scale adapted for burrowing, and dark lines running from the eyes to the corners of the jaw. The eyes have round pupils. Near the tail, the blotches often form more defined dark bands.
Size & Dimensions
The imaged specimen appears to be an adult approximately 3 to 4 feet (0.9 to 1.2 meters) long. Adults typically range from 3 to 6 feet (0.9 to 1.8 meters) in length, with exceptional individuals exceeding 7 feet (2.1 meters).
Habitat
Highly adaptable terrestrial species found in deserts, prairies, grasslands, open woodlands, scrublands, agricultural fields, and semi-arid regions from sea level up to elevations over 2,800 meters (9,000 feet).
Diet & Feeding
Active forager and opportunistic hunter that prey primarily on rodents such as gophers, voles, mice, and rats, as well as rabbits, birds, bird eggs, and occasionally lizards. They utilize strong constriction to subdues their prey.
Reproduction
Oviparous (egg-laying). Females lay clutches of 2 to 24 eggs in late spring or early summer, usually buried in soft soil, abandoned mammal burrows, or under fallen logs. Incubation takes approximately 60 to 75 days before hatchlings emerge in late summer or autumn.
Look-alikes
Frequently confused with Western Rattlesnakes (Crotalus species) due to similar dorsal patterning and defense behaviors, but can be distinguished by its slender neck, rounded head shape without heat-sensing pits, round eye pupils, pointed tail ending without a rattle, and smooth, non-segmented tail tip.
Conservation Status
Least Concern (IUCN Red List). Populations are generally stable and widespread, though local declines occur due to habitat loss, road mortality, and intentional killing due to misidentification.
Cultural Significance
Highly beneficial to agriculture and local ecosystems as a natural form of pest control, consuming vast numbers of crop-damaging rodents.
Notable Features
Exhibits a sophisticated defensive display when threatened, including flattening its head to appear triangular, coiling into a strike pose, loudly hissing by forcing air through a specialized epiglottal flap, and vibrating its tail rapidly against dry vegetation or ground to create a rattle-like sound.