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You had a very interesting post on P.l.gibsoni. My question is I have known these as gopher snakes...both subspecies P.l.lineaticollis and P.l.gibsoni. However you have referred to them as pines.Very interesting. Please elaborate.
Craig

What matters is the scientific name, of course. P. lineaticollis (and deppei) is not a gopher, or a pine, or a bull - it's another Pituophis species that never got an English name because they were almost unknown until a few years ago. I favor 'pines' because 1)as adults they look more like pines than anything else, and 2) they live at fairly high elevations, often in or at the edge of pine forests.

I'm one of the many folks with limited knowledge about Pits but I love them. I klnow this question has undobtedly been addressed many times but herer it is anyway. What is the pertinent distinction between Bulls and Gophers?

What matters is the scientific name, of course. P. lineaticollis (and deppei) is not a gopher, or a pine, or a bull - it's another Pituophis species that never got an English name because they were almost unknown until a few years ago. I favor 'pines' because 1)as adults they look more like pines than anything else, and 2) they live at fairly high elevations, often in or at the edge of pine forests.

I agree with Craig. I had the distinct pleasure of being the guy to derive the common name for lineaticolis. Since lineaticolis refers to the species' stripes and the snake comes from Mexico and it seemed poetic I used the name "Mexican Lined Pine".

However, there is no real difference from west coast to east coast and from New Jersey or British Columbia to Guatemela except regional naming. For instance I have caught San Diego gophers in pine forest! Should they be San Diego Pines?

Common names are nothing more than common names. They are all Pituophis. Nothing more or less.
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