That is a gopher snake, not a garter snake. Garter snakes have longitudinal stripes. Gopher snakes have a more checkerboard pattern, irregular blocks of different shades of brown, like this guy. Both are harmless, and gopher snakes are beneficial animal partners, controlling rodents all around us, not just a pretty face.
Thanks for the info. The story has been edited to reflect the change. It is hard for some of us to see them as partners, but I like the description. I like their role in rodent reduction.
To aid in survival, gopher snakes have evolved to mimic rattlesnakes in appearance and behavior (they will even vibrate their tail against dry vegetation to create a rattling noise). Fortunately, the rattlesnake is the ONLY venomous snake (to humans) found at the Berkeley Lab campus.
Indeed it’s a gopher snake. Gopher snakes are shy, beneficial and even make good pets. They mimic rattlesnakes by their skin pattern and by shaking their tails just like rattlers do when threatened, but without making any rattling sound. Their heads are elongated as opposed to triangular, like rattlers’s. They will only get aggressive if seriously cornered. I wish I had more gopher snakes in my farm!
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That is a gopher snake, not a garter snake. Garter snakes have longitudinal stripes. Gopher snakes have a more checkerboard pattern, irregular blocks of different shades of brown, like this guy. Both are harmless, and gopher snakes are beneficial animal partners, controlling rodents all around us, not just a pretty face.
Thanks for the info. The story has been edited to reflect the change. It is hard for some of us to see them as partners, but I like the description. I like their role in rodent reduction.
To aid in survival, gopher snakes have evolved to mimic rattlesnakes in appearance and behavior (they will even vibrate their tail against dry vegetation to create a rattling noise). Fortunately, the rattlesnake is the ONLY venomous snake (to humans) found at the Berkeley Lab campus.
Indeed it’s a gopher snake. Gopher snakes are shy, beneficial and even make good pets. They mimic rattlesnakes by their skin pattern and by shaking their tails just like rattlers do when threatened, but without making any rattling sound. Their heads are elongated as opposed to triangular, like rattlers’s. They will only get aggressive if seriously cornered. I wish I had more gopher snakes in my farm!