Pacific Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer catenifer) | Project Noah

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Photo by HemaShah

Published on Project Noah

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Field Notes

Description:

Today I saw this 3 ft long slender snake at about 6.30 in the evening. It had been a warm day . It entered our neighborhood and was in the middle of the road. I was going for a walk. This zone has speeding cars and that worried me a little. I knocked on my neighbors door to help me move this snake off road. My very friendly neighbor came running with a bucket and her husband. Her husband scooped it up and we tossed it gently ,over the fence into the foothills.
We were trying to figure out if it was a gopher or a baby rattler.
For one it coiled up like a rattler and flattened it's face into a triangle,ready to lunge at us. It open it's mouth twice as though ready to bite. It often flicked out a black tongue. The tail was narrow and ended in a red bit.
It was not olive green in color but seemed more black and white.However it's face had markings like a gophers. So we are reaching out to the experts to tell us what it is.
It stayed in the coiled position till we were around and then it slithered into a small open space under the fence.

Habitat:

Foothills of Mt Diablo.

Notes:

Spotting number 3333.

Reference Links:

Structural Adaptations of the Gopher Snake | eHow

Species ID Suggestions

Gray Ratsnake

Pantherophis spiloides

1

Pacific gopher snake

Pituophis catenifer catenifer

4

Comments (31)

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This is so amazing! thnx for sharing Suzanne and Ashley. The fact that wild life can make these changes fascinates me completely. Recently I read an article on how Swallows are developing narrower wings to adapt to urban life. Something to protect them from being chopped off,I guesss.

It isn't that there is anything wrong with the rattles, although I'm sure some can be deformed like you say, but the snakes have learned over decades that if they rattle, they get found. Through evolution, snakes are learning to not rattle anymore, and this keeps them safe. This can increase the amount of bites because people are more likely to step on/near them without knowing because they blend in really well, but it really is saving the rattlesnakes. We can thank the huge amounts of snakes taken for rattlesnake roundups for this happening, it is definitely a cause because they are noticing this behavior in the areas where snakes are taken for the roundups.

For whatever it's worth, I listened to a story on NPR the other day about mutations in U.S. rattlesnakes. A higher incidence of small +/or curled rattles ... the deformed rattles don't make a sound which, the reporter said, ends up in more of these snakes surviving to mate and pass on their genes because humans don't kill them outright. So, the assertion was that there's a growing population of rattlers out there with strange tails. I dunno from snakes ... just passing it on.

True, Namitha. Even after this rigorous scrutiny., I bet there is still going to be an argument that it is a rattler. i will let you know the outcome.

Thank you for that info Jemma, from seeing this snake I thought it was poisonous. I am a huge fan of snakes, at the same time, I am terribly afraid of snakes.You are right, we can never be sure. In India also, there are many incidents of killing non venomous snakes which mimic the appearance of venomous ones. In nature it's a a boon for them, but in front of humans it is a free ticket to hell.

Namitha,thank you! these are very friendly snakes and some people have them as pets. Though it is always a smart idea to keep a distance from snakes ,these are misunderstood and often killed. These are good to have around and ideal for rodent control. In fact my neighbor kept saying ,"iif it's a gopher ,I want it in my garden" and her husband said ,"No, Honey" They mimic rattle snakes and pretend to be rattle snakes as a way of self defence . Because of this sometimes they can scare away or end up being killed. Sad.

Amazing spotting and a wonderful story. Thank you so much for sharing Jemma.

Thank you dotun55

Awesome spotting with beautiful markings

thank you Satyen. This is the third gopher i almost stepped on!

Lovely one Jemma!

Thanks, Adarsha. It was great to witness ,first hand,the rattle snake mimicking behaviour.

Fantastic series of images :)

thanks Daniel and Surekha. :) Surekha,thanks for the link too.

Awesome spotting and series of pictures Jemma!

Awesome spotting, Jemma! Very impressive!! Interesting info on http://www.ehow.com/info_8287922_structural-adaptations-gopher-snake.html

thanks Connor. Very reassuring to know that. His camouflage will definitely help him.

Turkeys wouldn't hurt the snake, yet hawks will. But I reckon' he's better off a hawk's meal rather than just roadkill. (That is if he does die.)

thanks, Robby.

Joshua,it was cute. But really,sometimes I wonder if we did the right thing. He could have been run over by a car,but then if he made it to the other side,it would have been safer from turkeys. We tossed it over in the open space with not much cover. In the day time there are Turkeys,hawks and I hope that it makes it into the wild. There is so much to learn about rehab and relocation. A common man might as well leave things as they are!!

Fun stuff :) Thank you!

thank you outside Girl and Mark.:)

Thank you Ashley, Frazier and Jellis in helping me ID. This guy did not have a triangular head originally. It is only when he was upset with us that it started exhibiting rattle snake like behavior. it was a combo of docile and angry.

Ashley ,than you so much for your valuable feed back.

Jellis,that could be true. This guy was young. The tip of the tail was red,if that is any indication of shedding?

Fabulous spotting Jemma.

aesome spot, jemma! :)

I've looked at a lot more pictures, and I'm going to agree with Gopher Snake. Although the patterning looks more like a juvenile racer to me, the racers patterning fades towards the tail, and this guys doesn't. So it has too much patterning to be a juvenile racer, not like Jellis said of it not having enough patterning. And head shape is not a good way to tell if something is a rattlesnake or not, head shape is not good to tell any venomous from non venomous. Most snakes can make their heads appear arrow shaped if they are angry.

Between rattler and gopher always look at the shape of the head and body. Don't always count on the rattles because they lose them sometimes. http://thecallout.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/gopher-vs-rattlesnake.jpg

I agree with S Frazier. Not enough pattern for a racer. Don't forget to look in California Herps. Experts on CA reptiles and amphibians. I don't recall any Rat snakes in CA.

Miguel,thanks for the ID. Rat Snakes i believe are limited to the East and the Central. I am more inclined towards Gopher, It is a great Rattle Snake Mimic too. I want a confirmation because my neighbor believes that it is a rattler. I am a little confused.

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