A Jumbo Gopher Snake
The gopher snake is decorated with brown, cream and yellow markings.
A group of county workers discovered big gopher snake at Baylands today. It was a beautiful individual, about 4 1/2 feet long, glistening in the warm sunshine.
I spotted it at a distance, a distinctly serpentine form being held by a woman in a blue dress.
After I fetched a camera, I walked over and introduced myself.
Her name was Candy, a teacher. She came to the park Wednesday with two other women and a group of about 10 lively children. The kids were outfitted in bright orange vests so the women could keep track of them.
Candy lets the snake rest on her arm.
Candy was sitting in their van when she noticed the county workers checking out the snake.
She keeps a captive gopher snake in her home room, so she immediately recognized the animal and picked it up.
Some gopher snakes will hiss and strike when a person approaches, but this one was not afraid. It didn’t hiss or bite.
Donny, one of the county workers who discovered the snake, holds it.
This is the fourth gopher snake I’ve seen at Baylands in the last two years. We saw a three-footer in October, 2007. Last spring we spotted a baby gopher snake. A few weeks later I saw another adult across the Great Meadow.
No surprise: in the same time period I’ve seen hundreds of gophers and ground squirrels at the park, so the snakes easily find a smörgåsbord of rodents.
This snake had shed recently: its scales were iridescent. Its skin was smooth, unblemished by nicks, scars or injuries.
People sometimes confuse gopher snakes with rattlesnakes, though they are quite different in appearance. Rattlers are thick-bodied with broad diamond-shaped heads. Gopher snakes have narrower, oval heads and a more graceful shape with a slender tail. And they lack rattles, of course, though a nervous gopher snake will sometimes hiss and vibrate its tail. If it’s in leaf litter or dry grass, it produces a sound similar to that of a rattler.
Candy lets the kids touch the snake.
Candy said that the gopher snake felt strong, as you would expect from a constrictor.
The day was warm — mid-70s — and the snake was lively, moving around in her arms. It relaxed a bit when she draped it on one arm, providing more support.
Later she shared it with the kids.
They were too young to handle the snake, but the brave ones touched it.
One small boy announced, “I’m afraid of snakes,” but he came close and patted it anyway.
“It feels like a pillow,” said another kid. “It’s soft.”
Tags: Baylands, People, Snakes.
I want to “borrow” it for a few weeks to rid of the tenants living under my house and garden!
As I was leaving the park one day, a 4-footer, just like this one (could be the same one!), crossed the road!! I could not risk driving over it, its delicate bones would be crushed. So, I put my hazard lights on, got out of the car, and shoo-ed it back into the grass with my coat. Score one for conservation!