Can Anyone Identify This Large Water Snake?

[BSquared18]

Hello,

Can anyone give me the name of this snake (click on link)?

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AsKA5NO4lEXYhfMa...OHypw?e=puABmC

It's a large snake that was photographed in a boggy area of, I believe, Minnesota. It was about the size, I think, of snakes like pythons. I didn't realize we had snakes of this size in Minnesota.

Indigenous or imported?

Thanks,
Bill

[poison123]

Appears to be a species of Pituophis ( gopher, bull, pine snake) the exact species im not sure but it is a colubrid not a python likely a native and not a released pet.

[Herpin' Man]

It's a bull snake (aka Gopher snake). They are native to Minnesota.
Is it dead?

[MnGuy]

Originally Posted by BSquared18

Hello,

Can anyone give me the name of this snake (click on link)?

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AsKA5NO4lEXYhfMa...OHypw?e=puABmC

It's a large snake that was photographed in a boggy area of, I believe, Minnesota. It was about the size, I think, of snakes like pythons. I didn't realize we had snakes of this size in Minnesota.

Indigenous or imported?

Thanks,
Bill

This is a bullsnake, which is subspecies of the Gopher snake, according to the MN DNR. People use the two terms/names interchangeably. It is considered the longest snake we have in Minnesota (I live there), although the fox snake is a close second.

Where did you see it?

I live in Minneapolis and have seen the bullsnake on a few occasions. Even though they are considered a prairie species I have seen them near water as well.

[ReptiWorldWide]

Wow, what a beautiful snake! Definitely some type of gopher (probably a bull). these guys can get quite big, and will typically bite if threatened, but these guys are completely safe to have around, and are very good rodent eaters, so they will help with pests as well! This is definitely not an imported snake.

[BSquared18]

Thanks everyone for your comments.

Truth be told, the picture I provided is a screen grab I made off of a video I watched yesterday (July 8, 2020) on YouTube. It was that day's Nature 365 video by Jim Brandenberg, noted Minnesota photographer and videographer.

You can view the video at the link below. The snake appears a few seconds into the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4WU...ature=emb_logo

I'm sure the folks viewing this thread know a lot more than I do about this snake and snakes in general. An online search I just made found a map showing the distribution of gopher snakes in Minnesota. If I'm reading the legend correctly, the map is as of 2014.

The map can be seen at the link below:

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AsKA5NO4lEXYhfMe...KHyTQ?e=K5lIEB

One source said the population of this snake is shrinking in Minnesota due to urbanization and other causes. So, the map is no doubt out of date. Does anyone know of a more recent map?

Moving to Minnesota from California years ago, I miss seeing lizards and snakes the way I was able to out West.

Some years ago, each summer when my family would travel up north in Minnesota, we would see numerous road-kill snakes. We don't see them anymore; partly (or mostly?) due to the number that were run over by cars. Very sad.

Bill