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The Pacific gopher snake has a base color ranging from yellow to dark brown and has a gray coloring on the sides of the body. It is a spotted snake, with the spots being dark brown. Usually there are 41 to 99 spots on the body, while the tail spots range from 14 to 33. The side of the body has 2 or 3 rows of alternating black and brown spots. [6]
Pocket gophers weigh around 200 g (1 ⁄ 2 lb), and are about 15–20 cm (6–8 in) in body length, with a tail 2.5–5 cm (1–2 in) long. A few species reach weights approaching 1 kg (2.2 lb). Within any particular gopher species, the males are larger than the females, and can be nearly double their weight. [7]
Common names: Pacific gopher snake, coast gopher snake, western gopher snake [5] ().. Pituophis catenifer is a species of non-venomous colubrid snake endemic to North America.Nine subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominotypical subspecies, P. c. catenifer, described here. [6]
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 .
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 ...
Townsend's pocket gopher is a relatively large gopher, measuring 22 to 29 cm (8.7 to 11.4 in) in total length, including a tail 6 to 10 cm (2.4 to 3.9 in) long. Adults weigh between 190 and 380 g (6.7 and 13.4 oz), with males being significantly larger than females.
[3] [5] [6] This pocket gopher is well adapted to burrowing, which is evident in the characteristic stocky build, fusiform shape, powerful jaws and incisors, large powerful forelimbs, and reduced hind limbs and hips often observed in this species. [4] The diet of this species includes roots of xerophytic shrubs, grasses, and forbs. [3]
In all snakes of the genus Pituophis, the epiglottis is peculiarly modified so that it is thin, erect and flexible. When a stream of air is forced from the trachea, the epiglottis vibrates, thereby producing the peculiarly loud, hoarse hissing for which bullsnakes, gopher snakes, and pine snakes are well known.