Southwest Reptiles and Amphibians
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Gophersnake - Pituophis catenifer
Sonoran Gophersnake - Pituophis catenifer affinis
(Hallowell, 1852)
| Species Description |
Approximate Range of P. catenifer
Yellow = Range of P. c. affinis
Click map to enlarge and see other subspecies names.
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| Adult, Pima County, Arizona | ||
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| Adult, Cochise County, Arizona | ||
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| Adult, Cochise County, Arizona | Young Adult, Yavapai County, Arizona |
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| Adult, Yavapai County, Arizona | Large old adult, Pima County, Arizona | |
| Habitat | ||
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| Habitat, Yavapai County, Arizona | Habitat, Pima County, Arizona. | Habitat, Pima County, Arizona. |
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| Habitat, Cochise County, Arizona | Habitat, Cochise County, Arizona |
Habitat, Mohawk Dunes, Yuma County, Arizona |
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| Habitat, Yavapai County, Arizona | ||
| Short Videos | ||
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| A huge Sonoran Gophersnake puts on an impressive defensive display of hissing and blowing. | Gopher snakes in the wild often take a defensive stance when threatened; they hiss, rear up, and sometimes even strike at the threat in order to protect themselves from harm. In this video, a newly-hatched juvenile Sonoran Gopher Snake trying to cross a road at night is threatened by the bright light and the video camera stuck in its face so it hisses loudly and strikes at the camera before crawling away. | A Sonoran Gophersnake races across a road just after sunset. |
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| A distressed Pacific Gopher Snake shakes its tail rapidly, which makes a buzzing sound as the tail touches the ground. This behavior might be a mimic of a rattlesnake's rattlng, or it could be a similar behavior that helps to warn off an animal that could be a threat to the gopher snake. | A Sonoran Gophersnakes crawls around in Imperial County. | |
Southwest Reptiles & Amphibians
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