Gopher Snake / Bullsnake
Pituophis catenifer • Order Squamata, Suborder Serpentes, Family Colubridae, Subfamily Colubrinae, Genus Pituophis, Species Pituophis catenifer
North America, ranging widely across central and western Canada, the western and central United States, and 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). Generally abundant and stable, though threatened locally by road mortality, habitat loss, and intentional killing due to human misidentification.
Physical Description
Features a yellowish, tan, or light brown background color covered with large brown, dark dark gray, or black dorsal blotches that tend to merge into dark bands near the tail. The scales are strongly keeled, giving it a rough texture. The head is relatively narrow with a slightly pointed rostral scale, and a dark band often runs across the snout between the eyes and from behind the eye to the corner of the jaw. Round pupils.
Size & Dimensions
Specimen shown appears to be an adult approximately 3.5 to 5 feet (105-150 cm) long. Species typical length ranges from 3 to 6 feet (90-180 cm), with occasional individuals reaching over 8 feet (240 cm).
Habitat
Extremely adaptable, inhabiting deserts, prairies, grasslands, open woodlands, scrublands, and agricultural fields from sea level up to elevations over 2,500 meters (8,200 feet).
Diet & Feeding
Active foraging and rodent burrow exploration; powerful constrictor feeding predominantly on small mammals such as pocket gophers, mice, rats, ground squirrels, and rabbits, as well as birds, eggs, and lizards.
Reproduction
Oviparous species. Females lay clutches of 2 to 24 eggs (typically 7-10) during late spring or early summer, usually in underground burrows, soft soil, or beneath rocks, which hatch after 60 to 75 days.
Look-alikes
Frequently confused with various species of Rattlesnakes (Crotalus spp.) due to similar coloration, keeled scales, and defensive behaviors like tail-vibrating, but lacks a rattle, functional heat-sensing pits, and possesses round pupils instead of vertical ones. Also resembles Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) and Pine Snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus).
Conservation Status
Least Concern (IUCN Red List). Generally abundant and stable, though threatened locally by road mortality, habitat loss, and intentional killing due to human misidentification.
Cultural Significance
Highly beneficial in agricultural and rural ecosystems as a natural form of pest control, consuming vast numbers of crop-damaging rodents.
Notable Features
Possesses a specialized epiglottal flap that amplifies air forced from the lungs, allowing it to produce an exceptionally loud, rasping hiss when threatened. When defensive, it may flatten its head, coil, and rapidly vibrate its tail against dry vegetation to create a rattling sound.