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This is a small gopher snake from the mojave desert of southern california. Im not sure which subspecies lives locally. I think its either a great basin or a sonora. Between the blotches on the back there is an orange color which intensifies toward the tail. Ive also seen gophers out here that are milky white, not brown like this one.

p.c. affinis x p.c. annectens

This is an NATURAL integrade that appears in California. Anyways, I could be wrong, but that is my guess!

and it does look very basin. I dunno heheheh. Shannon, KJ, Terry???????????

Do you know of the range of those subspecies? Im not entirely certain that both of them are in the mojave desert. I know that they both range in southern California, but Im not sure exactly where.

What subspecies would look similar but white with darker blotches on the back? Ive seen one like that, a beautiful snake, unfortunatly it was already dead on the road.

It looks like a great basin to me , because the neck blotches .But Sonorans range in the south east California too .

JASON

The dorsal markings are Great Basin, but the color of the markings lean Sonoran. I'm not saying Sonoran, I was just noting that the color can be highly variable. The mojave desert is a pretty large area to give us as the locality. The catenifers can look so much like each other and they readily integrade in overlap zones, that alot of people will only identify a catenifer when there is specific locale data. It's almost automatic for alot of kids in California who consistently pick up gopher snakes to note where they caught it. I see it almost everytime when someone brings in a gopher snake that the first thing people will ask is where was it caught. It might look sonoran, but if it was collected in pacific territory then it's a pacific. Now you know you need to get the snake a mate from the same locale don't you. Nice color in that locale. Good luck

>>This is a small gopher snake from the mojave desert of southern california. Im not sure which subspecies lives locally. I think its either a great basin or a sonora. Between the blotches on the back there is an orange color which intensifies toward the tail. Ive also seen gophers out here that are milky white, not brown like this one.
>>

It was outside of the palmdale/lancaster area, just south of Mojave. Does that help at all?

catenifer to me. They over lap in the great basin gopher's range all through out California..

Later-Del

but everytime we say catenifer, someone says sonoran. LOL. If they never tell us specific locale, it's up in the air. I would think Great Basin or Pacific because Sonorans shouldn't be in that area. It could be a Great Basin/Pacific integrade.

>>catenifer to me. They over lap in the great basin gopher's range all through out California..
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>>Later-Del

100% catenifer. I have hunted to many of them in my day. I have caught derserticola and catenifer on the same road, on the same night, less than a mile apart. Why Sonoran is the first reply everytime its not a sayi or pine is beyond me LOL!!!!

Catenifer rules - Del

to know you can pickup a gopher snake. You can tell if it's Pacific or Great Basin and even if you can see Great Basin influence in the snake. That's a nice color pacific wouldn't you think Del. I guess Jason over at Envy sells so many nice Sonorans and morphs, people think Sonoran if it's not bullsnake or pinesnake. LOL. I can't wait to see the Sand Canyon Pacific het for amel gopher offspring you are producing this year breed and see some amel Sand Canyon Pacific gopher snakes.

>>100% catenifer. I have hunted to many of them in my day. I have caught derserticola and catenifer on the same road, on the same night, less than a mile apart. Why Sonoran is the first reply everytime its not a sayi or pine is beyond me LOL!!!!
>>
>>Catenifer rules - Del

I thought the pacifics had grey between the blotches, but I havent seen a good picture of one.