Range in California: Light Green
Click the map for a guide
to the other subspecies
Listen to a gophersnake
hissing defensively
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Adult, Santa Barbara County. © Gary Nafis. Specimen courtesy of Krista Fahy, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
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Adults, Santa Rosa Island, Santa Barbara County Photos © Patrick H. Briggs,
Speimen courtesy of Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
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Adult, Santa Cruz Island, Santa Barbara County Photos © Patrick H. Briggs, Specimen courtesy of Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History |
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Habitat - Santa Cruz Island, Santa Barbara County
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Short Video |
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Watch a San Diego Gopher Snake flick its tongue and crawl across a dirt road. |
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Description |
Nonvenomous |
| Considered harmless to humans. |
| Size |
| Adults of this species can be 2.5 - 7 feet long (76 - 213 cm) but this subspecies is a small or "dwarf" subspecies which only grows to just over 3 feet long ( 91 cm.) Hatchlings of P. catenifer are fairly long, generally around 15 inches in length (38 cm) but those of this subspecies have been recorded at 6.5 - 9 inches. |
| Appearance |
| Heavily keeled scales, a narrow head that is slightly wider than the neck, and a protruding rostral scale on the tip of the snout. Ground color is olive, grayish, or brownish with small discrete dark blotches along the back and smaller markings on the sides. The underside is pale and lightly speckled. The back of the neck is dark. |
| Behavior |
| Gophersnakes are generally active in the daytime, and at night in hot weather, and especially at dusk and dawn. They are good burrowers, climbers, and swimmers. A powerful constrictor; kills prey by suffocating them in body coils or by pressing the animal against the walls of their underground burrows. When threatened, a gophersnake willl sometimes inflate its body, flatten its head and produce a loud hiss, often while moving its tail back and forth quickly which may sound like a rattle if this is done in dry vegetation. You can listen to a recording of a gophersnake hissing here. |
| Diet |
| Due to the more limited fauna of the islands, Santa Cruz Island Gophersnakes have a less varied diet than other subspecies of gophersnakes. Their diet probably includes mice, lizards, birds eggs and nestlings. Juveniles probably take small lizards, mice, and possibly insects. |
| Reproduction |
| As with other subspecies, Mating probably occurs in spring after emergence from winter hibernation, with eggs laid June - August, hatching in 2 to 2.5 months. |
| Range |
| Occurs only on two (possibly three) of the Channel Islands south of the Santa Barbara coast - Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa Islands. There is also an unverified sight record from San Miguel Island. |
| Habitat |
| Occurs in all types of vegetation found on the islands. Most common in open grassland, dry streambeds, and oak and chaparral woodlands. From near sea level to 2,100 feet (640 m) on Santa Cruz Island. |
| Taxonomic Notes |
| 8 subspecies of Pituophis catenifer are recognized - 2 occur in Baja California, and 6 occur in the United States. It has been proposed that the snakes from Baja California are a new species. 5 of these subspecies occur in California, with one endemic, and one that only occurs in California and Baja California. Gophersnakes are related to Ratsnakes and Kingsnakes, and they have been known to interbreed with these species. |
| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| The proliferation of feral livestock such as sheep and pigs may have had an impact on populations of this snake by altering the vegetation and landscape. Pigs have also been known to eat snakes. Attempts have been made to remove or eradicate these introduced species. |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Colubridae |
Colubrids |
| Genus |
Pituophis |
Bullsnakes, Gopher Snakes, and Pinesnakes |
| Species |
catenifer |
Gopher Snake |
Subspecies
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pumilis |
Santa Cruz Island Gopher Snake |
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Original Description |
Pituophis catenifer - (Blainville, 1835) - Nouv. Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, Vol. 4, p. 290, pl. 26, figs. 2-2b
Pituophis catenifer pumilis - Klauber, 1946 - Trans. San Diego Soc. Nat. Hist., Vol. 11, p. 41, pl. 3
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Pituophis - Greek - pitys- pine and ophis - snake - possibly referring to habitat of nominate subspecies on U.S. east coast (the Pine Snake)
catenifer - Latin - catena - chain and -ifera - bearing - referring to the dorsal pattern
pumilis - Latin - diminuitive or dwarfish
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Alternate Names |
Santa Cruz Gopher Snake
Formerly Pituophis melanoleucus
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Related or Similar California Snakes |
P. c. affinis - Sonoran Gopher Snake
P. c. annectens - San Diego Gopher Snake
P. c. catenifer - Pacific Gopher Snake
P. c. deserticola - Great Basin Gopher Snake
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More Information and References |
Natureserve Explorer
California Dept. of Fish and Game
Patrick Briggs' World Pituophis Site
The Pituophis Page: P. c. pumilis
Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
Behler, John L., & F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.
Bartlett, R.D. , & Alan Tennant. Snakes of North America - Western Region. Gulf Publishing Co., 2000.
Ernst, Carl H., Evelyn M. Ernst, & Robert M. Corker. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, 2003.
Wright, Albert Hazen & Anna Allen Wright. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press.
Brown, Philip R. A Field Guide to Snakes of California. Gulf Publishing Co., 1997.
Schoenherr, Allan A. Natural History of the Islands of California. The University of California Press, 2003.
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The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published several times each year by the California Department of Fish and Game.
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Organization
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Status Listing
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| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
None |
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| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
None |
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| California Department of Fish and Game |
DFG:SSC |
Californiia Species of Special Concern |
| Bureau of Land Management |
None |
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| USDA Forest Service |
None |
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| Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks |
G5 |
Secure |
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
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None |
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