A Bull Snake is a large, non-venomous constricting snake, which means it kills its prey by wrapping its body around it and squeezing until the prey animal stops breathing. Bull Snakes are in the same family as the Pine and Gopher Snakes, and are classified as Pituophis melanaleucas sayi. They are found in the Midwest, down through TX and into Colorado, up north to Montana. Further west and in the deserts, they are replaced by the Gopher Snake, and back east, by the Pine Snakes. Bull Snakes can get over 8 feet long, and are fairly heavy-bodied, but have small heads in comparison to their bodies with a pointed snout. If frightened, they can hiss very loudly and a flap of tissue in their windpipe vibrates to make a sort of roaring sound, which is how they got the name; people thought they sounded like an angry bull! They will also coil and vibrate their tails, and combined with the hissing, this can produce a sound resembling a Rattlesnake's rattle, which lead to an unfortunate myth that these egg-laying snakes can mate with live-bearing Rattlesnakes to produce a deadly hybrid that looks like a harmless snake. There is no truth to that myth whatsoever. Bull Snakes can become very tame and make good pet snakes, and breeders have produced many domestic varieties in many different colors that aren't found in the wild. You can go to this breeder's site and see some of the different colors and patterns, some normal, some not, that these snakes can be: www.homegrownherps.com .
