A four-foot gopher snake was found by our terrier Lulu on the ranch this afternoon.

(Often mistaken for a rattlesnake, these non-venomous California snakes play a large role in ecosystems through pest control)

April 10, 2026 - 22:21 UTC

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Gorgeous snake!! ☺️🤗🥰
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Gopher snakes will shake their tails against dry grass to fake the sound of the rattle. It's pretty effective! Always happy to see them. Generally, if you have gopher snakes around you won't have rattlers.
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Found one of these at work one day. I removed it to a safer place. It was pissed off and shook it's tail at me. They're not as easy to handle as a rattle snake with the snake grabby thing lol.
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When I taught science to little kids, I always heard stories about grandma killing a snake.
I would always tell them; well, if you don't like snakes, I hope you like rats!
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We had one in our yard last year. Keeping my idiot dogs from investigating too closely while I determined it was a gopher snake was way more difficult than I'd thought it would be.
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Omg. That's exactly what happened to me today. I have 2 rescue terriers, and when I saw Lulu jump into the air, I immediately thought she was bit — the gopher snake (who does rattle its tail without rattles) really resembled a rattlesnake (color wise) and my heart jumped. 🤭
#LeoAndLulu
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They have round heads; rattlers have triangular heads. Gopher snakes are beneficial consumers of rats and other vermin.
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Also they don’t have rattler tails
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"Often mistaken for a rattle snake" despite missing that thing at the end of their tail and isn't making rattling sounds?? God we humans are stupid. Also aren't rattlesnakes huge?
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Love them, don't kill them. They are a great snake to have around.
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This is a very unflattering video of President Trump! 🤣
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gud snek!!
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We get garter snakes, rattle snakes and copperheads in Pennsylvania.

Had to stop my then boss from stepping on a copperhead. He's colorblind and literally couldn't see it until I pointed it out.
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Snakes. Crawl across the ground all day and never get dirty.
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They should deploy these snakes in New York City to take care of the rat problem
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Unfortunately, gopher snakes can't kill rats. In their natural environment, they utilize the mounds and underground tunnels created by gophers and moles to corner their prey. They are non-venomous and, if provoke — strike with closed mouth. A New York rat would most likely consider *them* prey.
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Head's too small for any viper.
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My favorite snake. I always move them off the road.
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I gently suggested that she move beyond my back garage driveway, through my dog fence, and into the (1 acre) goffer-infested field. She obliged. That's when I measured her with my size 12.
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