Pituophis catenifer deserticola

Last updated

Pituophis catenifer deserticola
Great Basin Gopher Snake.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Pituophis
Species:
Subspecies:
P. c. deserticola
Trinomial name
Pituophis catenifer deserticola
Stejneger, 1893

Pituophis catenifer deserticola, commonly known by its standardized English name since the 1950s, the Great Basin gophersnake, [1] [2] [3] is a subspecies of nonvenomous colubrid snake ranging in parts of western United States and adjacent southwestern Canada. [4] [5]

Contents

Geographic range

This snake can be found in the United States in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, and in Canada in British Columbia. [4]

Description

Adults of P. c. deserticola are usually about 4.5 feet (137 cm) in total length. The maximum recorded total length is 5.75 feet (175 cm). [6]

The Great Basin gopher snake has dorsal spots that are dark brown or black, and they are connected to each other by very narrow lines that run along each side of the anterior part of the body. On each side of the neck there usually is a dark longitudinal stripe that is surrounded by some lighter coloring, which eventually breaks up towards the posterior end of the snake and turns into dashes or small spots. The body scales are keeled, and the head has a pointed shape. The underbelly has a creamy color with small, dark, irregular blotches. There is some discrepancy over their average lifespan, the Utah Hogle Zoo reports the average lifespan is 7 years, [7] while others report that the average lifespan for the Great Basin gopher snake as being 12–15 years with the record age being 33 years and 10 months. [8]

Scutellation in Great Basins [9]
ScutellationUsual # of scales
Midbody29–35
Ventrals 214–259
Caudals 54–71, divided
Anal entire
Prefrontal scales usually 4
Supralabials 8–10
Infralabials 9–15
Preoculars 1–2
Postoculars 2–6

Habitat

The Great Basin gopher snake can be found throughout the western United States in grasslands, woodlands, deserts, coastal sage scrub, agriculture land, and riparian areas. [10]

Behavior

The Great Basin gopher snake is a great climber, swimmer, and burrower. It is one of the most commonly found snakes when people are hiking or driving on the road. They are easily seen in spring when the male snakes are out and about trying to find a mate. The hatchlings are easily found in late August and September when they emerge from their eggs. Like most animals, Great Basin gopher snakes are not dangerous unless provoked. When defending themselves from predators, they will elevate and inflate the body, and flatten the head into a triangular shape. Loud hissing noises will ensue, along with quick shaking of the tail, mimicking the sound of a deadly Great Basin rattlesnake. Unlike a rattlesnake, however, the Great Basin gopher snake is nonvenomous. [10]

Diet

The Great Basin gopher snake is carnivorous, and it preys upon a variety of organisms, including lizards, birds and their eggs, and small mammals (pocket gophers). [8] Mammals are the most common prey item. [11]

Reproduction

Subspecies of gopher snakes lay their eggs from June to August, and the Great Basin gopher snake is no exception. After the sexually mature snakes mate in spring, the females usually lay 3-24 eggs, with 7 eggs being the average. It usually takes the eggs 2 to 2.5 months to hatch. When the young emerge, they are usually in the range of 30–46 cm (12–18 in) in total length. [7]

Notes

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">California kingsnake</span> Species of snake

    The California kingsnake is a nonvenomous colubrid snake endemic to the western United States and northern Mexico, and is found in a variety of habitats. Due to ease of care and a wide range of color variations, the California kingsnake is one of the most popular snakes in captivity.

    <i>Pituophis</i> Genus of snakes

    Pituophis is a genus of nonvenomous colubrid snakes, commonly referred to as gopher snakes, pine snakes, and bullsnakes, which are endemic to North America.

    <i>Pituophis catenifer</i> Species of snake

    Pituophis catenifer is a species of nonvenomous colubrid snake endemic to North America. Nine subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominotypical subspecies, Pituophis catenifer catenifer, described here. This snake is often mistaken for the prairie rattlesnake, but can be easily distinguished from a rattlesnake by the lack of black and white banding on its tail and by the shape of its head, which is narrower than a rattlesnake's.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Glossy snake</span> Species of snake

    Arizona elegans is a species of medium-sized colubrid snake commonly referred to as the glossy snake or the faded snake, which is endemic to the southwestern United States and Mexico. It has several subspecies. Some have recommended that A. elegans occidentalis be granted full species status.

    <i>Pituophis catenifer affinis</i> Subspecies of snake

    Pituophis catenifer affinis, commonly known as the Sonoran gopher snake, is a nonvenomous subspecies of colubrid snake that is endemic to the southwestern United States. It is one of six recognized subspecies of the gopher snake, Pituophis catenifer.

    <i>Nerodia rhombifer</i> Species of snake

    Nerodia rhombifer, commonly known as the diamondback water snake, is a species of nonvenomous natricine colubrid endemic to the central United States and northern Mexico. There are three recognized subspecies of N. rhombifer, including the nominotypical subspecies.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Speckled kingsnake</span> Species of snake

    The speckled kingsnake is a nonvenomous species of kingsnake endemic to the United States.

    <i>Pantherophis emoryi</i> Species of snake

    Pantherophis emoryi, commonly known as the Great Plains rat snake, is a species of nonvenomous rat snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to the central part of the United States, from Missouri to Nebraska, to Colorado, south to Texas, and into northern Mexico.

    <i>Crotalus oreganus</i> North American rattlesnake

    Crotalus oreganus, commonly known as the (northern) Pacific rattlesnake, is a venomous pit viper species found in western North America from the Baja California Peninsula to the southern interior of British Columbia.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape gopher snake</span> Species of snake

    The Cape gopher snake or Baja gopher snake is a species of nonvenomous colubrid snake endemic to extreme southern Baja California Sur, Mexico. They have become increasingly popular companions for people interested in the exotic pet trade, due to their extreme color variations and relatively docile behavior. It was previously considered to be a subspecies of Pituophis catenifer. There has been controversy whether the Baja Gopher Snake is a lower classification of the Cape Gopher Snake. Some say the Baja Gopher Snake should be in a separate sub-species of Pituophis Vertebralis Bimaris, while Cape Gopher Snakes should remain Pituophis Vertebralis Vertebralis. Many people mistake the two as the same sub species and have cased some cross-breeding between the two. In captivity the bloodlines are nearly all related and breeding has become especially difficult in terms of keeping the bloodlines alive.

    <i>Pituophis melanoleucus</i> Species of snake

    Pituophis melanoleucus, commonly known as the pine snake, is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to the southeastern United States. Three subspecies are currently recognized as being valid.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Basin rattlesnake</span> Species of snake

    The Great Basin rattlesnake is a venomous pit viper species found in the Great Basin region of the United States.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisiana pinesnake</span> Species of snake

    The Louisiana pine snake is a species of large, nonvenomous, constrictor in the family Colubridae. This powerful snake is notable because of its large eggs and small clutch sizes. The Louisiana pine snake is indigenous to west-central Louisiana and East Texas, where it relies strongly on Baird's pocket gophers for its burrow system and as a food source. The Louisiana pine snake is rarely seen in the wild, and is considered to be one of the rarest snakes in North America. The demise of the species is due to its low fecundity coupled with the extensive loss of suitable habitat - the longleaf pine savannas in the Gulf coastal plain of the southeastern United States. Management activities are being conducted to promote the species' recovery.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific gopher snake</span> Subspecies of snake

    The Pacific gopher snake is a subspecies of large non-venomous colubrid snake native to the western coast of North America.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Bullsnake</span> Subspecies of reptile

    The bullsnake is a large, nonvenomous, colubrid snake. It is a subspecies of the gopher snake. The bullsnake is one of the largest/longest snakes of North America and the United States, reaching lengths up to 8 ft.

    Wyoming is home to 12 amphibian species and 22 species of reptiles.

    References

    1. Conant, Cagle, Goin, Lowe, Neill, Netting, Schmidt, Shaw, Stebbins, and Bogert. 1956. Common names for North American amphibians and reptiles. Copeia 1956: 172–185. (page 183)
    2. Crother, B. I. (ed.). 2017. Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding. SSAR Herpetological Circular 43, 1–102 pp. [see page 74] ISBN   978-1-946681-00-3
    3. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles: Checklist of the Standard English Names of Amphibians & Reptiles (accessed May 15, 2022)
    4. 1 2 "California Herps" . Retrieved 2009-10-04.
    5. Pituophis catenifer at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 25 February 2019.
    6. Schmidt, K.P., and D.D. Davis. 1941. Field Book of Snakes of the United States and Canada. G.P. Putnam's Sons. New York. 365 pp. (Pituophis catenifer deserticola, pp. 165-166 + Figure 46. on p. 161.)
    7. 1 2 "Utah's Hogle Zoo" . Retrieved 2009-10-03.
    8. 1 2 Shannon Hiatt. "General Care of the Baja California gopher, Pacific gopher, and Great Basin gopher snakes". The Pituophis Page. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
    9. "World Pituophis Web Page" . Retrieved 2009-10-04.
    10. 1 2 "Zipcode Zoo". Archived from the original on 2012-06-12. Retrieved 2009-10-05.
    11. Rodríguez-Robles, Javier A. (2002). "Feeding ecology of North American gopher snakes (Pituophis catenifer, Colubridae)". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 77 (2): 165–183. doi: 10.1046/j.1095-8312.2002.00098.x .

    Further reading