Gopher (also known as bull) snakes have a similar body pattern to rattlers. Unfortunately, each year thousands of innocent gopher snakes are hacked to death when people mistake them for their poisonous fellow serpents.Like all pit vipers, rattlesnakes have triangular-shaped heads with a definite "neck." Their body tapers distinctly as it leads to the head.
Rattlers have fat bodies which are noticeably bigger in the center of their length.Like most snakes, gopher snakes' bodies taper evenly from the head down. Their heads are the same diameter as their bodies.Both rattlers and gophers have vivid brown-and-black patterning on their bodies. But rattlers have scaly tails with "buttons" -- which form the rattles. Gopher snakes' tails are smooth.
Gophers have developed behavior to mimic rattlers that likewise warns predators. This, unfortunately, is why so many are mistakenly killed.Gophers hiss and assume a strike position like a rattler's. They may also vibrate their tails rapidly, and in dry leaves, this sounds like a rattler's buzz.Gophers kill by constriction, whereas rattlers inject a neurotoxin into their victims.
Rattlers have fat bodies which are noticeably bigger in the center of their length.Like most snakes, gopher snakes' bodies taper evenly from the head down. Their heads are the same diameter as their bodies.Both rattlers and gophers have vivid brown-and-black patterning on their bodies. But rattlers have scaly tails with "buttons" -- which form the rattles. Gopher snakes' tails are smooth.
Gophers have developed behavior to mimic rattlers that likewise warns predators. This, unfortunately, is why so many are mistakenly killed.Gophers hiss and assume a strike position like a rattler's. They may also vibrate their tails rapidly, and in dry leaves, this sounds like a rattler's buzz.Gophers kill by constriction, whereas rattlers inject a neurotoxin into their victims.
