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Gopher snake (gophersnake)

Pituophis catenifer · also called gophersnake, bullsnake, bull snake and blowsnake · Last checked November 3, 2026.

A tan gopher snake with dark brown blotches crawls head-on toward the camera across a gravel road.
Adult crawling toward camera on a gravel road, blotched pattern visible Photo: National Park Service from USA · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Non-venomous

The gopher snake (called the bullsnake in the Great Plains and Texas) is a large, tan to yellowish snake with dark brown or black blotches down the back. It is non-venomous, but it is often mistaken for a rattlesnake because when threatened it coils, hisses loudly, flattens its head and vibrates its tail. It has no rattle. It will bite if threatened. Official sources confirm it in Arizona, California, Missouri, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah and Washington, and TPWD says bullsnakes occur in the western, southern and southeastern United States. Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife

On this page
  1. Is it dangerous?
  2. How to identify it
  3. Lookalikes
  4. Where it lives
  5. When it is active
  6. Habitat and habits
  7. Legal status and reporting
  8. Questions
  9. Sources

Is the gopher snake dangerous?

Non-venomous. WDFW says gopher snakes will bite if threatened, but the bite is not venomous. Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife

“Gopher snakes will bite if threatened, but the bite is not venomous.”

Bites and stings: Will bite if threatened or captured; the bite is not venomous (WDFW). TPWD: will not strike unless severely provoked.

How to identify a gopher snake

A photo or description can narrow it down, but cannot confirm what an animal is or that it is safe. Look from a distance and do not handle wild animals.

Close view of a gopher snake's pale head flicking its black tongue, with a dark band behind the eye and dark bars on the lip.
Head close-up: dark stripe through the eye and dark lip marks Photo: Arches National Park from Moab, Utah · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
A yellowish gopher snake with black blotches lies curled on wood chips, its narrow head facing left.
Coiled on wood chips, showing round pupil and keeled, blotched scales Photo: National Park Service from USA · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
A small, slender gopher snake with brown blotches on a pale body crawls through grass and clover.
Juvenile in grass and clover, looking like a small adult Photo: Justin · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist
Two tan gopher snakes with dark blotches lie side by side across a pale concrete path.
Two adults lying together on a sidewalk Photo: Millie Basden · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist

Size: Usually 3 to 6 feet; Arizona's longest snake, up to 92 inches (AZGFD); Missouri record 105 inches Arizona Game and Fish Department

Colors: Tan, cream, yellow, orange-brown or pale gray background with brown, reddish-brown, black or olive blotches; beige to light brown with dark brown or black blotches; yellowish belly with black spots (bullsnake, Texas). Pattern: About 40 large blotches down the back; light and dark bands on the tail; black line from the eye to the jaw (Missouri bullsnake); dark eye stripe through the eyes and across the snout; small dark tear-like mark below each eye; banded tail.

Key features

Young

Juveniles resemble adults

Animals mistaken for the gopher snake

Gopher snake (gophersnake) or Rattlesnakes?

Gopher snake (gophersnake)

Gopher snake (gophersnake)
Photo: National Park Service from USA · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Rattlesnakes Crotalus spp.

Rattlesnakes
Photo: NPS Photo · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

WDFW: gopher snakes lack a rattle and facial pits and have smaller, square back spots. NPS Cabrillo: the gopher snake's tail is long, skinny and pointed with no rattle, its head is about as slender as its neck (rattlesnakes have large spade- or triangle-shaped heads), and its back pattern is a rectangular chain rather than the circles or diamonds of a rattlesnake. Caution: a defensive gopher snake flattens its head into a triangle and vibrates its tail, so do not rely on head shape or sound alone. Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife

Venomous. NM Poison & Drug Information Center: rattlesnakes are the most common venomous snakes in New Mexico, rattlesnake venom is very toxic, and the rattle may or may not sound before a strike.

Gopher snake (gophersnake) or Glossy snake?

Gopher snake (gophersnake)

Gopher snake (gophersnake)
Photo: National Park Service from USA · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Glossy snake Arizona elegans

Glossy snake
Photo: Linda Jo Conn · CC BY 4.0 · iNaturalist

AZGFD: gopher snake back scales are keeled, which distinguishes it from the similar-looking glossy snake Arizona Game and Fish Department

Where the gopher snake lives

Texas: on the state's official listCalifornia: on the state's official listWisconsin: on the state's official listOregon: on the state's official listMissouri: on an official sourceIdaho: on the state's official listIllinois: on the state's official listMontana: on the state's official listMinnesota: on the state's official listIowa: on the state's official listNebraska: on the state's official listWashington: on the state's official listSouth Dakota: on the state's official listColorado: on the state's official listUtah: on the state's official listOklahoma: on the state's official listNevada: on an official sourceNorth Dakota: on the state's official listNew Mexico: on the state's official listKansas: on the state's official listArizona: on the state's official list
Official presence. 21 states where a state list or official source names it. Gray means no official record in our data, not that it is absent.
  • Native or listed
  • Nonnative or not established
  • No official record in our data
Texas: 284 recordsCalifornia: 2,731 recordsWisconsin: 13 recordsOregon: 200 recordsIdaho: 97 recordsIllinois: 13 recordsMontana: 58 recordsMinnesota: 27 recordsIowa: 4 recordsNebraska: 88 recordsWashington: 106 recordsSouth Dakota: 53 recordsColorado: 270 recordsUtah: 215 recordsOklahoma: 18 recordsWyoming: 26 recordsIndiana: 7 recordsNevada: 105 recordsNorth Dakota: 21 recordsNew Mexico: 272 recordsKansas: 92 recordsArizona: 371 records
Observation records. Open-licence records on GBIF in 22 states. Records are sightings people shared, not confirmation that a population lives there.
  • 1–9
  • 10–99
  • 100–999
  • 1,000+

On our state guides

State boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file cb_2024_us_state_20m.

When it is active

Active day or night when conditions are right; hibernates in late fall and winter. Washington: out from late March or early April into late October. Missouri: late March to mid-November, mostly seen in May and June. Texas: usually hunts by day, more at night in hot summers. Arizona Game and Fish Department

US open-licence records peak in April to June and September.

5,175 US records by month (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY). Shows when people record it, not how many there are.

Habitat and habits

Habitat: A habitat generalist: from low, hot, dry desert sand dunes to heavily wooded slopes (AZGFD); also grasslands, prairies, shrubsteppe, pastures and old fields, brushlands, and oak and pine forests. AZGFD: found in all of Arizona's biotic communities except alpine tundra. Arizona Game and Fish Department

Behavior: When threatened it raises its head into a striking pose, hisses loudly, flattens and broadens its head and vibrates its tail, and is often mistaken for a rattlesnake. Mostly a ground-dweller but can climb.

Diet: A constrictor that eats mainly rodents (mice, rats, gophers, ground squirrels), plus rabbits, birds and eggs, lizards, snakes and insects

Young: Lays eggs: mating in spring, up to 24 eggs laid in late spring or early summer; hatchlings appear in August (Arizona) or late August to September (Missouri)

Legal status and reporting

Protection: Minnesota: species of special concern (Minnesota Rules 6134.0200). Missouri: a species of conservation concern (MDC). Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes

Report: Washington: WDFW asks people to share gopher snake sightings, especially from western Washington, outside the known range, or from Walla Walla County, using the WDFW wildlife reporting form. Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife

Questions about the gopher snake

Rattlesnake vs gopher snake

Gopher snakes have no rattle; the tail is long, skinny and pointed (NPS Cabrillo). WDFW says they also lack facial pits and have smaller, square back spots. NPS Cabrillo adds that the gopher snake's back pattern looks like a rectangular chain, not the circles or diamonds of a rattlesnake. A scared gopher snake coils, hisses, flattens its head and vibrates its tail to look like a rattlesnake, so keep your distance from any snake you are not sure about.

Baby rattlesnake vs gopher snake

WDFW says young gopher snakes resemble adults, and no gopher snake has a rattle or facial pits. No official source checked describes baby rattlesnakes alongside young gopher snakes, so treat any small blotched snake you cannot identify as possibly venomous and leave it alone.

Bull snake vs rattlesnake

The bullsnake is the Great Plains and Texas form of the gopher snake (Pituophis catenifer sayi). NPS Gila Cliff Dwellings: bull snakes are not venomous and have no rattles, but they imitate rattlesnakes by coiling, hissing, striking and vibrating the tail.

Bull snake bite

Bullsnakes and gopher snakes are non-venomous. They will bite if threatened or captured (WDFW, MDC); TPWD says they will not strike unless severely provoked.

Bull snake size

TPWD: three to five feet. MDC: usually 37 to 72 inches, with a record of 105 inches. AZGFD: up to 92 inches, Arizona's longest snake.

Bull snake texas

Yes. TPWD says bullsnakes are very common throughout Texas except the extreme east and the extreme western Trans-Pecos.

Bull snake mn

Yes. Minnesota Rules list the gopher snake (Pituophis catenifer) as a species of special concern.

Are there bull snakes in arizona?

Yes. The Arizona Game and Fish Department field guide says the gophersnake is found in nearly every part of the state, from near sea level to about 9,000 feet.

Bull snake colorado

Not confirmed from a Colorado agency source in this check (the CPW species profile URL tried returned only a search page).

Bull snake iowa

Not confirmed from an Iowa agency source in this check.

Sources

  1. Gopher snake (Pituophis catenifer). Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. undated page; checked November 3, 2026.
    Quoted passages (6)
    “Gopher snakes will bite if threatened, but the bite is not venomous.”
    “The gopher snake is a large snake with dark blotches, a distinct eye stripe and a tail that tapers to the tip.”
    “The head is somewhat triangular in shape, becoming more pronounced when the snake is agitated.”
    “No obvious external features distinguish males from females. Juveniles resemble adults.”
    “If you see this species, please share your observation using the WDFW wildlife reporting form.”
    “In comparison to rattlesnakes, gopher snakes differ in their physical appearance by lacking a rattle and facial pits. They also have smaller, square, dorsal spots;”
  2. Online Field Guide species account: Gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer). Arizona Game and Fish Department. 2023; checked November 3, 2026.
    Quoted passages (8)
    “Arizona's longest snake (up to 2,337 mm or 92″ in total length).”
    “The pupils are round. The dorsal scales are keeled distinguishing this snake from the similar looking Glossy Snake.”
    “A true generalist, this snake is found in all of Arizona's biotic communities with the exception of the small tract of treeless Alpine Tundra on the peaks of the San Francisco Mountains in Coconino County. It is most abundant in moderate terrain such as foothills, bajadas, and flatlands below about 6,000′ elevation but it inhabits a wide variety of habitats ranging from hot, dry, low elevation, sand dunes to heavily wooded slopes.”
    “This is a powerful constrictor that preys on a wide variety of animals including rats, mice, rabbits, lizards, birds, snakes, eggs, and insects.”
    “When threatened it often raises its head and neck into a striking posture, hisses loudly, flattens and broadens the head, and vibrates the tail. When exhibiting this behavior it is often mistaken for a rattlesnake.”
    “The Gophersnake can be active around the clock when conditions are favorable. It h ibernates during the cold months of late fall and winter.”
    “Mating takes place in spring and a clutch of up to 24 eggs is laid in late spring or early summer. Hatchlings begin to emerge in August.”
    “The dorsal scales are keeled distinguishing this snake from the similar looking Glossy Snake.”
  3. TPWD Wildlife Fact Sheet: Bullsnake (Pituophis catinefer sayi). Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. undated page; checked November 3, 2026.
  4. We Brake for Snakes! - Cabrillo National Monument. National Park Service. updated June 18, 2019; checked November 3, 2026.
  5. Rattlesnake. California Department of Fish and Wildlife. undated page; checked November 3, 2026.
  6. Bullsnake (Pituophis catenifer sayi) - Field Guide. Missouri Department of Conservation. undated page; checked November 3, 2026.
  7. Minnesota Rules 6134.0200 Animal Species (endangered, threatened, special concern). Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes (Minnesota DNR rule). Published Electronically: October 8, 2013; checked November 3, 2026.
    Quoted passages (1)
    “Of special concern:”
  8. Snakes and Lizards - Great Basin National Park. National Park Service. updated February 28, 2015; checked November 3, 2026.
  9. BISON-M (Biota Information System of New Mexico) species search export: taxonomic name "Serpentes". New Mexico Department of Wildlife (BISON-M, with Natural Heritage New Mexico). database queried November 3, 2026; checked November 3, 2026.
  10. Reptiles - Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. National Park Service. updated April 24, 2025; checked November 3, 2026.
  11. GBIF.org occurrence records, human observations licensed CC0 1.0 or CC BY 4.0 only, accessed November 3, 2026. The datasets behind these counts are listed on our Sources page.
  12. State boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file cb_2024_us_state_20m.