Description
Pacific gopher snake adults range in size from 2.5-7 feet (76-213 cm) in total length. However, most of the subspecies reach a length of 4.5-5 feet (137-152 cm). The hatchlings are relatively long, and they have been recorded at lengths upward of 20 inches (51 cm).
The Pacific gopher snake has a base color ranging from yellow to dark brown and has a gray coloring on the sides of the body. It is a spotted snake, with the spots being dark brown. Usually there are 41 to 99 spots on the body, while the tail spots range from 14 to 33. The side of the body has 2 or 3 rows of alternating black and brown spots.
A snake with keeled scales, and a narrow head that is wider than the neck, the Pacific gopher snake also displays a protruding rostral scale on the tip of the snout. The two most common base colors are straw and straw gray, though the species' color varies widely. The dorsal blotches, or saddles, are well-defined and generally dark to chocolate brown, though some specimens have had black blotches. The side blotches are often brown or gray. The back of the neck is dark brown. In many areas, such as Solano County, California, the snake can be found in a striped morph.
The ventral side may be cream-colored to yellowish with dark spots. On the dorsal side, especially near the tail, there is often a reddish coloration.
Read more about this topic: Pacific Gopher Snake
Famous quotes containing the word description:
“God damnit, why must all those journalists be such sticklers for detail? Why, they’d hold you to an accurate description of the first time you ever made love, expecting you to remember the color of the room and the shape of the windows.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“It [Egypt] has more wonders in it than any other country in the world and provides more works that defy description than any other place.”
—Herodotus (c. 484–424 B.C.)
“Once a child has demonstrated his capacity for independent functioning in any area, his lapses into dependent behavior, even though temporary, make the mother feel that she is being taken advantage of....What only yesterday was a description of the child’s stage in life has become an indictment, a judgment.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)