Pituophis catenifer
Silhouette: Alex Slavenko · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
Pituophis catenifer, the gopher snake, is a species of nonvenomous colubrid snake endemic to North America. Nine subspecies are currently recognized. The specific name, catenifer, is Latin for "chain-bearing", referring to the dorsal color pattern.
Adult gopher snakes are typically 36-84 in (91–213 cm) in length, when fully mature. Dorsally, gopher snakes are yellowish or a light, sandy brown, with a series of large, dark brown or black markings and smaller, darker spots along the sides. Ventrally, they are a lighter yellowish, either uniformly or with brown markings. They also come in several morphs, depending on the subspecies.
This snake is often mistaken for the prairie rattlesnake (Crotalus viridus), but can be easily distinguished from a rattlesnake by the lack of a tail rattle, no black-and-white banding on its tail, and the shape of its head, which is narrower than a rattlesnake's. Additionally, rattlesnakes (and indeed most vipers) possess a large venom gland located behind each eye, giving their heads a much rounder, more angular shape, as opposed to the more cylindrical, slender head shape of a gopher snake or other colubrid. Wikipedia →
Recording0:10
United States · 2026
© Sean C. · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:16
United States · 2015
© Chris Harrison · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:07
Canada · 2025
© John D Reynolds · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Badlands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Guadalupe Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Tijuana | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Las Vegas | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Denver Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Living Desert Zoo and Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 5 | Los Angeles Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Oakland Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Phoenix Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Audubon Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | San Francisco Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Dickerson Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Memphis Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Cameron Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Edmonton Valley Zoo | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 16 | Fresno Chaffee Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Hogle Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 18 | Bison Prairie | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 19 | California Living Museum | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 20 | Monterey Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 21 | Santa Barbara Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 22 | Zoologico de Chihuahua | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 23 | Henry Vilas Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 24 | Leningrad Zoo | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 25 | Como Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 26 | Alligator Adventure | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 27 | Reptile Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 28 | The Living Planet Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 29 | Sequoia Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 30 | Lindsay Wildlife Experience | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 31 | Schramm Education Center | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 32 | Doug Siden Visitor Center at Crab Cove | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 33 | The River Center | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 34 | MAARS (Midwest Avian Adoption and Rescue Services) | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 35 | SEA LIFE Minnesota Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Gopher Snake sighting in Joshua Tree National Park on a given day, based on 134 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 13th most-seen of the 39 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and June
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Gopher Snake in Joshua Tree National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January, the lowest month.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Gopher Snake sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
5th of 13
Of the 13 parks where we can rate Gopher Snake sightings, Joshua Tree National Park ranks 5th at about 30%. The best odds are in Badlands National Park (United States, about 40%), Zion National Park (United States, about 40%) and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (United States, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Colubridae
The closest relatives of the Gopher Snake that you can see in Joshua Tree National Park (family Colubridae, Colubrid Snakes) are Coachwhip (about 30%), Western Patch-nosed Snake (about 20%) and Glossy Snake (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Gopher Snake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Joshua Tree National Park (134 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
