Bullsnake

A Bullsnake is considered “The farmer’s friend.”

This big snake is one of the largest found in North America, especially in the United States and Canada. Though it can be a bit fractious if it feels cornered, it is welcome on farms because it eats mice, rats, and other vermin. Though it doesn’t eat rattlesnakes as often as it’s rumored to do so, the bullsnake does take them once in a great while, too.

Four Amazing Bullsnake Facts!

Here are four amazing facts about the bullsnake.

• Males are larger than females, which is unusual for snakes.
• The bullsnake is a subspecies of the gopher snake.
• It gets its name because it makes a sound like a bull snorting.
• It spends most of its day in a burrow and has a shield on its nose to help it dig.

Where To Find the Bullsnake 

Bullsnakes are found all over North America, from Canada to Mexico. Indeed, in Mexico, it is called the cincuate. It shelters in abandoned gopher burrows in habitats such as grasslands, farms, and open areas.

Scientific Name

The bullsnake’s scientific name is Pituophis catenifer sayi. Pituophis comes from the Greek for “pine” which is pitys and the Greek word for “serpent,” which is ophis. Catenifer is Latin and means “chain-bearing.” This refers to the pattern on the snake’s body. Sayi comes from Thomas Say, who was an American naturalist.

Evolution

Fossil records show that snakes first appeared during the Cretaceous period — although often retained their hind limbs. The earliest true snake fossils come from the marine simoliophiids, the oldest being hassiophis terasanctus, dated between 112 and 94 million years ago.

Scientists believe that snakes descended from lizards. Pythons and boas, the most primitive snakes, have vestigial hind limbs and some have remnants of a pelvic girdle, appearing as horny projections.

Many modern snakes originated during the Paleocene, alongside the radiation of mammals that occurred after the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs. The expansion of grasslands in North America led to a major radiation of snakes. During the Miocene, the number of snake species increased with the first vipers and elapids and the diversification of Colubridae.

Different Types of Bullsnake

The bullsnake is a subspecies of the gopher snake and has become a popular pet. Breeders have developed several color morphs including ghost, white-sided, leucistic, Axanthic, red, hypo, and patternless. There are also albino and snow bullsnakes. Albino snakes have paler colorations than regular bullsnakes, while snow bullsnakes are almost completely white. If any patterns show, they are very faint.

Population & Conservation Status 

Scientists don’t know the exact population of these snakes. However, as a subspecies of P. catenifer, the bullsnake’s population is stable and its conservation status is the least concern.

How To Identify Bullsnake: Appearance and Description 

A grown bullsnake is large in size, with a length of as much as 8 feet and a robust body that’s unusual for a member of the usually sleek colubrid family. It usually weighs between 2.2 and 3.3 pounds, though individuals have been found that weigh close to 10 pounds.

Another thing that’s unusual about this nonvenomous snake is that males tend to grow larger than females. A wild bullsnake has black, brown, reddish, or white dorsal blotches on a yellow, cream-colored, or beige ground. The snake usually has spots on its sides, though the sides of some morphs are white. This color pattern makes it resemble a rattlesnake. Baby snakes are gray until their first molt.

The snake doesn’t exactly hibernate but goes dormant during the fall or when food is scarce. It’ll go dormant in a burrow in October and emerge in April — the start of the mating season in some of its range. During its dormancy, it is not unusual to find this otherwise solitary snake with garter snakes, milk snakes, other bullsnakes, or even timber rattlesnakes.

How Dangerous Are Bullsnakes?

Bullsnakes are only dangerous to prey — they aren’t venomous, but their bite can be painful. Some individuals are docile and can be handled, but others will defend themselves with a threatening posture followed by a bite. When faced with a large potential predator that it can’t quickly escape from, the snake rears up in an S-shape, hisses, and vibrates its tail to mimic the venomous rattlesnake. It may lunge and bite even as it tries to slide away.

Behavior and Humans

Outside of the mating season, these snakes are solitary and spend most of their time resting in old gopher burrows. They prefer open habitats with loose soil. Bullsnakes are active during the day and kill their prey through constriction. They usually take rodents such as mice and rats, but they’re good climbers and have been seen raiding nests for eggs and baby birds.

The snakes’ breeding season begins in March or April, and the female lays her eggs from April to June, depending on where she lives. She usually lays about a dozen eggs in a sheltered area and then leaves them. The baby snakes hatch sometime in August. The lifespan of the snake ranges from 12 to as many as 30 years. Longer life is seen in snakes that are given good care in captivity.