Gopher Snake

(Pituophis catenifer)

"Bull Snake"

Color Photograph: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

"San Diego Gopher Snake"

Color Photograph: Chris Brown, U.S. Geological Survey

"Sonoran Gopher Snake"

Color Photograph: © Corel Corp.

"Great Basin Gopher Snake"

Color Photograph: © Corel Corp.

Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer)

Identification: Snake 36 to 110 inches in length. A large snake of variable coloration, both individually and geographically. Body generally cream white with black, brown, or red-brown blotches along the dorsal surface, the blotches typically more widely spaced toward the tail than toward the head. Sides with small, irregular blotches. Head usually with a dark line from the back of the eye to the base of the jaw. Belly white to yellow, often spotted with black. Head with the rostral scale projecting through the internasal scales and usually with four prefrontal scales. Scales keeled and anal plate single.

Geographical Variation:

Sonoran Gopher Snake (P. c. affinis): Dorsal blotches brown or red-brown, darker towards the tail than toward the head. Range: Most of Arizona except for the far northern part of the state, eastward to western New Mexico and extreme western Texas, southward into Sonora and Chihuahua.

San Diego Gospher Snake (P. c. annectens): Black botches on the anterior part of the body tend to fuse together. Range: Coastal Southern California southward into Baja California.

Pacific Gopher Snake (P. c. catenifer): Dark blotches on the anterior part of the body separate; spaces between blotches on the side gray. Range: Western Oregon, southward through western and central California to Santa Barbara County.

Great Basin Gopher Snake (P. c. deserticola): Dorsal blotches near the neck black, connected with vertical crossbars creating a weak ladder-like pattern. Range: South-central British Columbia southard through eastern Washington and Oregon, most of Nevada to southeastern California. Range extends eastward to eastern Idaho, Utah, western Colorado, and northern Arizona and New Mexico.

Santa Cruz Gopher Snake (P. c. pumilis): Resembling the San Diego Gopher Snake, but much smaller (24 to 32 inches in length. Range: Restricted to Santa Cruz Island off the coast of California.

Bull Snake (P. c. sayi): Dorsal blotches red-brown on a yellowish background; sides usually striate with dark brown to black. Range: Southern Alberta to Wisconsin, southward through the Great Plains to central and western Texas and into northeastern Mexico.

Range (see map below): The Gopher Snake occupies most of the western United States and parts of southwestern Canada, eastward throughout the Great Plains as far as Wisconsin, and Missouri, and southward into most of northern Mexico.

Habitat: This species occurs in a wide variety of habitats including prairie, scrubland, rocky desert, chaparral, and cultivated fields and pastures.

Food: Small mammals, birds, and lizards.

Behavior: This species is usually diurnal. The snake rests in gopher holes or tortoise burrows. If threatened the Gopher Snake hisses loudly, flattens its head, vibrates its tail, and strikes at the intruder. Prey animals are killed by constriction.

Reproduction:  Females lay eggs once or twice during the year between the months of June and August. The clutch consists of 2 to 24 eggs.

Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer)

Similar Species:

The large size, the dorsal blotches, the absence of triangular margins on the top of the head, the single anal plate, and the 4 prefontal scales should easily identify the Gopher Snake.

Similar Species

No Similar Species