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For other species sharing this common name, see bull snake.
Pituophis catenifer sayi 007.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Colubridae
Subfamily: Colubrinae
Genus: Pituophis
Species: P. catenifer
Subspecies: P. c. sayi
Trinomial name
Pituophis catenifer sayi
(Schlegel, 1837)
  • Coluber sayi
    Schlegel, 1837
  • Pityophis sayi sayi
    Cope, 1900
  • Pituophis sayi
    Stejneger & Barbour, 1917
  • Pituophis sayi sayi
    Schmidt & Davis, 1941
  • Pituophis catenifer sayi
    Wright & Wright, 1957
  • Pituophis melanoleucus sayi
    Conant, 1975
  • Pituophis catenifer sayi
    Collins, 1997


Geographic range[edit]

Bullsnakes can be found throughout central United States, northern Mexico, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and desert regions of British Columbia, Canada.[1]


Bullsnake basking in a gravel road near Cheney, WA

Adult bullsnakes average about 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to 1.8 m) in total length, and specimens of up to 8 feet 4 inches (2.5 m) have been recorded.[2] Adult specimens can have an average weight in the range of 1–1.5 kg (2.2–3.3 lb), though the heavier known specimens can attain 3.6–4.5 kg (7.9–9.9 lb), larger specimens being quite bulky for a colubrid snake.[3][4][5][6] This makes the bullsnake among the largest snakes native to Canada and the United States, although it is generally not as long as indigo snakes nor as heavy or as large in diameter as rattlesnakes. They are usually yellow, with brown, white, black or sometimes reddish blotching. The blotching pattern is as follows: large blotches on top, three sets of spots on the sides, and bands of black on the tail. Many color variations have been found, including albinos and white varieties. A scale count is required to distinguish juvenile bullsnakes from other juvenile gopher snakes.[citation needed]


Bullsnakes are very powerful constrictors who eat small mammals, such as mice, voles, rats, pocket gophers, ground squirrels, and rabbits, as well as ground nesting birds, birds' eggs[7] and lizards.They are also great climbers and will climb into trees and other structures to raid the nests (and birdhouses) of birds to eat the nestlings or sitting mother. One snake can eat 5 small birds within 15 minutes. Juvenile bullsnakes depend on small lizards, frogs, and baby mice. Bullsnakes kill their prey via constriction.[8]

The idea that bullsnakes occasionally eat rattlesnakes is sometimes given as a reason for humans not to harm bullsnakes when encountering them in the wild, although a better reason is the bullsnake's role in controlling warm-blooded vermin such as rodents.[8]


Bullsnake, aggressively posturing under perceived threat

Though some bullsnakes can be docile, and with some time become accustomed to handling, most bullsnakes are quite defensive and known for their perceived "bad attitude".[9]

When bullsnakes detect live objects too big to be prey they seem to perceive the object as a predator and take defensive action. Their first action is to remain quiet, not moving. Then when they feel they are able to move away from the object their next line of defensive is to move away as quickly as possible. Bullsnakes, however, are not fast movers and often have to take other defensive actions. When threatened by anything as large as a human, a bullsnake's next defensive action is to rear up and make itself look as large as possible while at the same time hissing at the perceived threat. It typically then begins lunging and retreating at the same time in order to escape.[citation needed]

Bullsnakes are sometimes mistaken for rattlesnakes and killed. Owing to its coloration, dorsal pattern, and semi-keeled scalation, the bullsnake superficially resembles the western diamondback rattler (Crotalus atrox), which is also common within the same range. The bullsnake capitalizes on this similarity by performing an impressive rattlesnake impression when threatened. First, it hisses, or forcibly exhales through a glottis or extension of the windpipe. The end of the glottis is covered by a piece of cartilage known as the epiglottis which flaps back and forth when air is exhaled from the right lung producing a convincing rattling sound. It also adopts a rattlesnake-like "S-curve" body posture as though about to strike. It will commonly vibrate its tail rapidly in brush or leaves, and flatten its head to resemble the characteristic triangular shape of the rattlesnake. These defensive behaviors are meant to scare away threats, however, and not to sound an attack.[citation needed]

In contrast to rattlesnakes, which usually keep their tail elevated in order to sound the most efficient rattle, bullsnakes tend to keep their tail in contact with the ground, where it can be vibrated against something.[citation needed]


Bullsnakes breed in March or April (depending upon their location) and usually lay their eggs in April, May or June (again, depending upon when the snakes breed.) They lay on average a dozen eggs in sand or other protected areas and leave the eggs to incubate unprotected. Clutches of 5-22 eggs have been observed. The eggs are elliptical, leathery, rough, sticky, and up to 70 mm (2 34 in) long.[10] The eggs typically hatch in August or September. Baby bullsnakes are 20–46 cm (7.9–18.1 in) at hatching. Their color is grayish until after their first shed.[citation needed]


  1. ^ Conant, Roger, and Joseph T. Collins. 1998. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central United States. Third Edition, Expanded. Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 616 pp. ISBN 0-395-90452-8. (Pituophis melanoleucus sayi, p. 365.)
  2. ^ Roots, Clive (2006). Hibernation. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 89. ISBN 978-0-313-33544-0. 
  4. ^ Ernst, Carl, and Evelyn Ernst. 2003. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Books. Washington, District of Columbia. ISBN 1588340198
  5. ^ Sterner, R. T., Petersen, B. E., Shumake, S. A., Gaddis, S. E., Bourassa, J. B., Felix, T. A., ... & Ames, A. D. (2002). Movements of a bullsnake (Pituophis catenifer) following predation of a radio-collared northern pocket gopher (Thomomys talpoides). Western North American Naturalist, 62(2), 240-242.
  6. ^ Kaufman, G. A., & Gibbons, J. W. (1975). Weight-length relationships in thirteen species of snakes in the southeastern United States. Herpetologica, 31-37.
  7. ^ Schmidt, K.P., and D.D. Davis. 1941. Fieldbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. G.P. Putnam's Sons. New York. 365 pp. (Pituophis sayi sayi, pp. 163-164 + Plate 18 + Figure 46. (map) on p. 161.)
  8. ^ a b Conant, Roger. 1975. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 429 pp. ISBN 0-395-19977-8 (paperback). ("Genus Pituophis", p. 198.)
  9. ^ Zim, H.S., and H.M. Smith. 1956. Reptiles and Amphibians: A Guide to Familiar American Species: A Golden Nature Guide. Simon and Schuster. New York. 160 pp. ("Bull Snakes", pp. 96-97.)
  10. ^ Wright, A.H., and A.A. Wright. 1957. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Comstock. Ithaca and London. 1,105 pp. (in 2 volumes) (Pituophis catenifer sayi, pp. 604-609, Figure 175. + Map 46. on p. 589.)

Further reading[edit]

  • Schlegel, H. 1837. Essai sur la physionomie des serpens, Volume II., Partie Descriptive. M.H. Schonekat. Amsterdam. 606 + xv pp. (Coluber sayi, new species, pp. 157–158.) (in French).

External links[edit]