If you are like most of us living here in Lake County, you love to happen upon a “wild thing” – be it a beautiful butterfly, a fox or even a gopher snake.
The Pacific gopher snake was not easy to sight, at first, as it blended in with the undergrowth, in the shade, by the creek.
The gopher snake's markings include brown patches set off of a tan background. It was a beauty! It was nearly 3 feet long.
Like all snakes, it has a Jacobson's organ found on the roof of its mouth. The snake flicked its forked tongue out to allow for specks of scent to adhere, then routed the smell to its snake brain.
Other critters who practice tongue-flicking to use their Jacobson's organ are lizards and even elephants.
The gopher snake could not hear me approaching, since snakes do not possess ears outside their heads as humans do. They own a complicated inner-ear that zones in on vibrations in their vicinity which in turn are changed to electric beats that travel to their brain. This helps them make a living in their niche, to locate prey.
When you happen upon a gopher snake, you will be taken aback, initially, since its resemblance to a rattlesnake is so striking – no pun intended! Pacific gopher snakes use this form of mimicry to aid in defending themselves.
The best way to note the differences between gopher and rattlesnakes is to note the head shape, which is smaller and more slender than a rattlesnake. The rattlesnake's head is diamond in shape.
A rattlesnake's eyes contain a vertical slit, while the gopher snake's eyes hold round pupils in their mesmerizing eyes.
Both the gopher snake and the rattler inhabit holes in the ground created by other animals, and both dine on gophers.
Both snakes also tremble their tails. A gopher snake does not have rattles, so, unless the gopher snake is shaking in dry weeds, it will not sound like a rattler, whose rattles sound a definite signal to “back off.”
As if coming across a large gopher snake who is mimicking a rattler by shaking its tail were not unnerving enough, gopher snakes have been known to coil up just like a rattler, and even compress its head in a more triangular shape to further resemble a rattlesnake to frighten enemies.
Besides gophers, gopher snakes also feast on other small animals, such as mice, rabbits or squirrels when they first constrict them prior to consuming them.
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also formerly wrote for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.
The Living Landscape: The Pacific gopher snake
- Kathleen Scavone
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