Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer deserticola) un-edited

While most snakes come out at night, Gopher Snakes come out during the day, so people are likely to see them on roads during the day. Most grow to about 4 feet long, but I caught one that was over 7 feet long!
Gopher snakes try to imitate rattlesnakes. Note that the general colors and pattern are similar to rattlesnakes. Also like rattlesnakes, they often stand their ground rather than slither off as fast as possible. Sometimes they will flatten their head to make their jaws flare out, giving them the triangular-shaped head of a rattlesnake, and they will even assume the strike position of a rattlesnake and shake their tail. Best of all, gopher snakes can hiss loudly - and if you listen carefully, you will realize that the hiss sounds like the buzz of a rattlesnake rattle!
Gophers seem to have personalities ranging from calm to frenzied. Calm gophers can be handled easily, but agitated snakes will bite. The bite is "harmless," but some of their teeth are likely to break off (they grow back, but it can't be good for them), and the bite can be painful or even get infected.
General Description: Gopher snakes are long, fairly heavy-bodied snakes with a small head. The dorsal color is straw with large dark blotches down the center of the back and smaller, more irregular blotches on the sides. There is a dark line across the forehead between the eyes
Taxonomy: Colubrid Snakes Family (Colubridae). Formerly Pituophis melanoleucus, but this name now refers only to the Pinesnake of the southeastern US.

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