Name That Snake (445KB)

[TraconSnake]

Several years ago while hiking i came across (actually, was literally one step from stepping on it when I saw it) this snake. I think it's a bull snake. It's location is Eastern Washington near Spokane.

I wish I could have gotten a better picture of the head.

These pictures were taken with a digital camera wich was on the end of my extended tripod (so i wasn't too close) My camera has an IR remote, so I was able to snap the pictures in safety. Too bad I didn't get a shot of the snake striking at the lens...

Full Size Pics (in order as they appear below):
http://www.realmsoftracon.com/snake/P5310023.JPG (170KB)
http://www.realmsoftracon.com/snake/P5310027.JPG (171KB)
http://www.realmsoftracon.com/snake/P5310028.JPG (511KB)
http://www.realmsoftracon.com/snake/P5310041.JPG (430KB)
http://www.realmsoftracon.com/snake/P5310044.JPG (395KB)
http://www.realmsoftracon.com/snake/P5310045.JPG (397KB)

[JLC]

Gopher snake....not sure of the exact subspecies, but definitely gopher in that region. Very cool pictures!! He looks mad!

[mr~python]

im sayin great basin gopher snake.

[TraconSnake]

Gopher snake....not sure of the exact subspecies, but definitely gopher in that region. Very cool pictures!! He looks mad!

He was hissing at first, that's for sure. I've also seen what I think was a racer (but I don't have a good track record for correct snake ID, that's for sure). All I know is the snake sure moved out of my way really fast! I've seen two other snakes wich looked like this one in my hikes in the area. Haven't seen any in the past couple years, though.

Edit: The head appears different from the pictures I'm finding while searching for Gopher Snakes. Does it puff it's cheeks out when threatened to give the head a more venomous arrow-head appearance?

[ErikH]

Gopher snakes can puff up their head a bit when they hiss. They also can rattle their tails in leaves or whatever is on the ground and make a sound similar to a rattlesnake.