About Pituophis vertebralis (Blainville, 1835)
Pituophis vertebralis, commonly called the Cape gopher snake, gets its name from its natural habitat on the Baja California Peninsula. This snake is found only at high elevations on the southern tip of the peninsula, where temperatures typically stay a mild 78 °F (25.5 °C). Because this species is rare, many hobbyists who keep Cape gopher snakes incorrectly assume its natural habitat is much warmer, and create dangerously hot enclosures for their snakes. A single Cape gopher snake can have dramatic variations in color and pattern along the length of its body. Most individuals start with bright H-shaped marks in different orange shades on a deep yellow background near the head. Moving down the body toward the tail tip, these patterns change shape, darken until they are completely black, while the yellow background fades. In other individuals, patterns start as black stripes before transitioning evenly into the characteristic markings of P. vertebralis. When a single snake is coiled up alone, its varied colors and patterns can lead people to mistake it for multiple separate snakes. The typical total length of an adult Cape gopher snake is between 36 and 66 inches (91.5–168 cm). Newly hatched Cape gopher snakes measure 12–18 inches (30–48 cm) in total length. When threatened, this snake flattens its head, vibrates its tail, and hisses, closely mimicking a rattlesnake. Most available information about the range of Cape gopher snakes is anecdotal. The area they inhabit is extremely ecologically diverse. The dominant landscape is Sonoran-like desert containing many cacti, but the range also includes dry tropical forests, arid tropical scrubs, desert shores, and the Sierra de la Laguna. The Sierra de la Laguna is designated a UNESCO global biosphere reserve, as its semi-arid to temperate subhumid climate supports highly important, contrasting ecosystems. This region can go months, even years, without rainfall, but can become fully saturated with flood water from a tropical storm or hurricane in just one week.
