What is Gopher Snake?
Gopher snakes are not only long but muscular reptiles that can seem intimidating to you at first because of their size. But you don’t have to feel frightened because they hardly have venom in them. In fact, they play a very crucial role when it comes to keeping the rodent population under control.
The species of gopher snakes takes place in various habitats. These include:
- Conifer Forests
- Deserts
- Prairies.
Also called a ‘bullsnake,’ gopher snakes spend most of their time on land being terrestrial animals and are non-venomous. These serpents are highly active during the day time. Even though gopher snakes may give you that look – raising fear in you but this is not the case. Truth be told, these snakes are more afraid of humans than they are of them.
Gopher Snake Picture
Still, gopher snakes need to be given some respect because they hardly have any poison in them. However, people often confuse this species with extremely dangerous rattlesnakes.
People with a weakness for keeping snakes as pets can go ahead with gopher snakes. This is because the curious mind of these reptiles is something that makes them gain immense popularity among people with a fancy for gopher snakes.
What if we told you that these reptiles could easily do well in captivity? Although strange yet true! Using the right reptile products and giving proper care will be a good thing to do if you’re interested in keeping these as pets.
Different Species of Gopher Snakes
The species of gopher snakes can be segregated into the following:
- Sonoran Gopher Snake
- Pacific Gopher Snake
- Bull Snake
- Great Basin Gopher Snake
Sonoran Gopher Snake
Native to the southwestern part of the US, the Sonoran Gopher Snake is one of six identified subspecies of the gopher snake. ‘Pituophis catenifer affinis’ is the scientific name of this species. Although these snakes are extremely fond of dry desert climates, they can be found in West Texas to southeastern California and different parts of Mexico.
The diet of Sonoran gopher snakes comprises small rodents, and they come equipped with hard skin around the nose. Their tough skin allows them to burrow into the holes of not only gophers but other reptiles as well.
Even though they can be quite aggressive by nature, it comes as no surprise why people prefer having them as pets. However, they act quite kind when domesticated.
Pacific Gopher Snake
With a narrow head and keeled scales, the Pacific Gopher Snake is found along the western coast of the United States. Its base color can range from yellow to dark brown with gray coloring found on the sides of its body.
Not only are the spots usually dark brown in color, but they can also be anywhere between 40 and 99 on the reptile’s body. Being a diurnal animal, the Pacific gopher snake can remain active at twilight. However, they may be nocturnal when the weather seems warm. They prefer living in dry habitats like farmland, meadows, dense forests, and fields.
Bull Snake
The bull snake is the species that has got a bad rep mainly because people confuse it with the prairie rattlesnake. If you want to differentiate between these two serpents, consider their coloring.
Bull snakes are the ones that do not have black and white banding on their tails. However, the head of this snake can be narrower compared to the prairie rattlesnake. It may interest you to know that bull snakes attack with a closed mouth rather than an open mouth which most snakes do.
Great Basin Gopher Snake
The Great Basin gopher snake is found in some states of the US such as Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and so on. These snakes can also be found in British Columbia, Canada.
Being an outstanding swimmer and a climber, this species of gopher snakes prefer to live in deserts, woodlands, agricultural lands, riparian areas, and grasslands. When they feel threatened, they imitate the behaviour of a rattlesnake.
Appearance and Size
Being very large in size, gopher snakes are powerful reptiles. They usually range between 36 to 96 inches in length. As far as their eyes are concerned, they are pretty big compared to other snakes. Furthermore, their heads are large with narrow necks.
No matter you are dealing with a gopher snake or any other type, make sure you look into its head. With a dark stripe extending from the top of the head to either side of the eyes, the colorings of gopher snake differ. Of course, it depends on the species as well as the location of the serpent.
Their colors blend in with the geographical area. While some of the gopher snakes have a light cream color, others are loaded with brown color with dark spots.
Habitat
The gopher snake is one of the most comprehensive serpents found in various parts of North America. Not only does its range extend to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, but they can also be found in northern and southern parts of Canada and Baja California in Mexico.
However, a majority of gopher snakes prefer living in semi-waterless brushy areas. These are the areas where they can find their dinner. They choose to live in burrows below the surface. In fact, they spend a large amount of their time in underground dens. During the summer, they may come out of the burrow to lie in sunlight.
Diet
Being a snake with hardly any poison, the gopher snake uses its constriction for killing its prey. Constriction overpowers the circulatory system of the victim, which results in the blockage of blood from flowing to the brain. And the prey is dead before you even know it.
Gopher snakes feast on small mammals including foxes, coyotes, red-tailed hawks and other rodents like rats, mice, rabbits, and squirrels.
Behavior
Being unsocial creatures, gopher snakes have some territories, and as per the studies conducted, it’s shown that they stay loyal to these territories. A majority of these serpents remain active during the day time. However, they may prefer hunting at night in the summertime.
Other than being incredible burrowers, these snakes can climb exceptionally well. However, they do have enemies like any other creature you could think of. Foxes, coyotes and red-tailed hawks can easily hunt these reptiles for food.
Gopher snakes have the ability to blend in with the environment so they can be caught when they are out on the rocks. Besides, they prefer to sun themselves on the road, which makes them unsafe as they can be run over by a car. When they sense fear, they will roll themselves to stay protected.
Is Gopher Snake Venomous?
Being large and intimidating, you may think that the gopher snake is deadly having large amounts of poison, but this statement does not hold true. Even though they are in the same family as the pine snake, gopher snakes are not venomous in spite of their appearance.
It is common for one to mistake these serpents for rattlesnakes because of the way they look. Moreover, their ability to imitate extremely deadly, venomous rattlesnakes makes them appear to be venomous but are not in reality.
Gopher Snake Vs. Rattlesnake
Gopher snake and rattlesnake are snakes which are not only large but display almost similar behaviors. Both these serpents resemble each other on the surface. Although they have the same colors and markings, both gopher snakes and rattlesnakes can have a short temper.
Length
The rattlesnake can grow upto 5 feet long. The gopher snake, on the other hand, grows from 6 to 9 feet.
Pits
Rattlesnakes are a pit viper. It indicates that they are highly venomous, and have facial pits between their eyes and nostrils. The pits of the rattlesnakes help them detect temperature, which helps them when they’re out on the hunt at night. The gopher snakes lack pit organs and aren’t poisonous.
Behavior
Gopher snakes are renowned for their hissing. Being constrictors, they can easily choke their prey to death. Rattlesnakes, on the other hand, use their venom to kill their prey. In fact, they make good use of their rattles to give a warning sign to their enemies.
Gopher snakes can make fantastic pets. As far as rattlesnakes are concerned, there are not many people who would even think of keeping these serpents as a pet.
Pictures
Looking for more Pictures of Gopher Snake? Here are some more for you guys:
Gopher Snake Bite
When a gopher snake feels threatened, it will attack with a closed mouth so that predators can stay away. But the fact cannot be held for denial that this species of snakes can also release a powerful bite. This bite can cause extreme pain to the predator. You may not know that the hiss given by this reptile is the loudest of all the snakes.
Facts
Here are some interesting facts associated with gopher snakes:
- Gopher snakes can sleep through cold weather in their underground dens.
- Gopher snakes are capable of reproducing when they reach the age of 3 to 4 years.
- Foxes, coyotes, and hawks are major predators of gopher snakes.
- Gopher snakes play an extremely crucial role in controlling the rodents in the wild.
- Gopher snakes can easily survive up to 10 years in the wild and from 12 to 15 years in captivity.
- Not only do gopher snakes hiss, but they also imitate the sound of the rattlesnake when they sense danger around them. Doing so keeps their predators at a distance.
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