Bull snake is considered a type of Gopher snake, or visa versa. Just depends on where you are. Some subspecies are called different things in different areas. In Texas, we call them all Bullsnakes, of course.
Bullsnakes commonly hiss very very loudly when confronted...like a gas main leaking, and sound very much like a rattlesnake when they do it. It's possible to run across one that doesn't hiss if it's not aggitated very much, or it's cold. Last one I caught was a whopper. Over 4 ft. of mean, loud, & pissed off hisser. They're constrictors, and also a bit "bitey"! So watch the fingers.
I'd still have to keep my options open on this one. I study Texas venomous snakes for the most part, so California common snakes is a different ballgame, but I still believe it's one of the species I listed.
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"A man that should call everything by it's right name, would hardly pass the streets without being knocked down as a common enemy." The Complete Works of George Savile, First Marquess of Halifax 1912,246

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