How to identify it
Yellowish or cream dorsum with numerous dark brown to black blotches; a dark stripe across the head between the eyes and another from each eye to the jaw angle. [1][2][3]
Dorsal scales keeled, anal scale single, usually four prefrontal scales; belly cream or yellowish, often with dark spots. [1][2][3]
Large: usually up to 180 cm, rarely to about 280 cm; relatively large head and narrow neck. [1][2][3]
Non-venomous and often mistaken for a rattlesnake; has no rattle. [1][2][3]
Compared with the rattlesnakes (crotalus spp.): Have a rattle; the gophersnake lacks one (Animal Diversity Web). [1][2][3]
Compared with the great plains ratsnake: Has a divided anal plate and only two prefrontal scales in Elaphe; gophersnake has keeled scales, four prefrontals and an undivided anal scale (NatureServe). [1][2][3]
Species it is confused with
Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.
- Great Plains ratsnake · Pantherophis emoryi
Where it lives
Wide range from lowlands to mountains: desert, prairie, shrubland, woodland, open conifer forest, farmland and marshes. [1][2][3]
How it behaves
Mostly diurnal but may be nocturnal or bimodal in hot weather; active roughly April-October in the north. [1][2][3]
Feeds mainly on small mammals, also ground birds and eggs, lizards and insects; forages underground and climbs trees for nests. [1][2][3]
When alarmed may hiss loudly, flatten and widen the head, and vibrate the tail, which sounds like a rattle in dry vegetation. [1][2][3]
Uses mammal burrows or digs its own; winters underground, sometimes migrating several hundred metres between den and summer range. [1][2][3]
Limited legal take
Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.
Where legal take is listed
- California — reptile take · 2026 California Freshwater Sport Fishing Regulations (updated July 10, 2026), 14 CCR 5.05/5.60
- Colorado — reptile take · 2 CCR 406-7 Chapter W-7 Herpetofauna (03/04/2026; eff. 2026-05-01)
- Nevada — reptile take · CR 24-15 2025 & 2026 Seasons & Limits for Noncommercial Collection of Live, Unprotected Reptiles & Amphibians
- Utah — reptile take · Reptile and amphibian species classification tables (R657-53), updated Apr. 22, 2026
Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.
Where it is found
Southern British Columbia, southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, Minnesota and Indiana south through most of western and central North America to northern Baja California, Sinaloa and Zacatecas.
Sources
Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.
NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30
NatureServe
- BIOLOGICALGophersnake - Montana Field Guide
Montana Natural Heritage Program / Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks · reviewed 2026-09-30
Montana Natural Heritage Program / Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
- BIOLOGICALPituophis catenifer (Gopher Snake)
Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30
Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology