Gopher Snake
Pituophis catenifer • Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Colubridae, Subfamily: Colubrinae, Genus: Pituophis, Species: Pituophis catenifer
Western North America, ranging from southwestern Canada down through the western United States into northern Mexico.
Look up Gopher Snake in the Snake Encyclopedia →Family
Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Colubridae, Subfamily: Colubrinae, Genus: Pituophis, Species: Pituophis catenifer
Conservation
IUCN Red List status is Least Concern. Populations are generally stable, though they face threats from habitat fragmentation, road mortality, and intentional killing.
Physical Description
Features a yellowish, tan, or cream-brown background with dark brown, black, or reddish-brown blotches along the back and smaller spots on the sides. Head is slightly distinct from the neck with dark bars across the prefrontal scales. Scales are keeled.
Size & Dimensions
The specimen shown is roughly 3 to 4 feet long. Adults typically range from 36 to 72 inches (90 to 180 cm) in total length, with record specimens exceeding 90 inches.
Habitat
Found in a wide variety of habitats including grasslands, shrublands, deserts, chaparral, agricultural fields, and open coniferous forests from sea level up to around 9,000 feet.
Diet & Feeding
Preys primarily on small mammals such as mice, voles, gophers, and squirrels, as well as birds, eggs, and occasionally lizards. Hunts by actively searching rodent burrows and subdues prey via constriction.
Reproduction
Oviparous species. Females typically lay clutches of 2 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. Populations are generally stable, though they face threats from habitat fragmentation, road mortality, and intentional killing.
Cultural Significance
Highly beneficial ecologically for controlling populations of agricultural pests and rodents. Frequently misunderstood and killed out of mistaken identity as rattlesnakes.
Notable Features
Known for a dramatic display that includes flattening its head, hissing loudly (aided by an epiglottal tracheal hinge), and vibrating its tail rapidly in dry leaves to mimic the sound of a rattlesnake.