Palouse Outdoors:A Gopher Snake in the Grass is Nature's Hidden Hero

"We're missing snakes," Ali said. "It's the apex predator at ground level."

"You're right. We've seen one gopher snake on this property in eight years," I replied.

Rarely would anyone utter a thought about needing more snakes in their life, but this conversation followed a moment of compromised composure. A pocket gopher eating the entire root system from beneath a beautiful three-year-old sagebrush that had grown from seed provoked red-faced rage and copious obscenities. I'm not one to "throw shade" on wildlife. Pocket gophers must "make a living," too, but their burrowing and gnawing are mowing down our fruit trees and shrubs and wreaking havoc on my speck of native grassland that has taken me four years to establish.

Given that red-tailed hawks and great horned owls nest on our property and coyotes stroll through routinely, it seems there are plenty of predators afoot to keep the vermin from becoming prevalent, yet they have failed. We've had great horned owl fledglings starve to death while I trap a dozen mice a week in my shop and truck cab and have that many more gopher mounds between the house and barn.

Just last year, a three-foot gopher snake appeared on our sidewalk, and I've rarely been more excited about a wild visitor to the house. Gopher snakes may be more commonly known as bull snakes in these parts, and they're a beautiful beige color with large chocolate brown blotches on their backs and smaller blotches on the sides. They have a black stripe across their head that wraps over the eyes. Vertical black bars stripe across their lips like zipper teeth, and they sport banded tails.

Gopher snakes prefer warm, dry habitats like deserts and grasslands and are common in the public lands along the Snake River. In eastern Washington, they typically grow three to four feet long and can be mistaken for western rattlesnakes, mainly due to their spotted markings and aggressive behavior when threatened. An agitated gopher snake coils up, flattens or widens its head, puffs up its body, and vibrates its tail. I don't recall a gopher snake ever striking at me, but they will if provoked. Of all these warnings, I find their hissing most startling.

Back in high school, I was an asset to the football team's offense. I was quick and agile for a 330-pound lineman and was relied upon to make holes for my fullback and quarterback. The plays required me to pull back and sprint down the line behind my teammates, then cut around the right end or turn up a gap and ensure the opposing linebacker was subdued before the fullback caught up to me. That was 25 years ago, but let a gopher snake erupt from waist-high grasses with a guttural hiss as I pass by, and you would think I was back on the football field running a three-second 40-yard dash. They may be harmless, but surprise intimidation is a keen defense mechanism.

Gopher snakes are aptly named as they prefer snacking on gophers over other vermin. I've not since seen the one that visited the house last spring, which could mean that it died from obesity. Our few acres grow pocket gophers like weeds and could sustain dozens of gopher snakes.

Like all wildlife, snakes need suitable habitat, not just plentiful food. The fallow areas surrounding wheat fields are prime, but large and connected habitat areas can be a limiting factor where roadways expose snakes to traffic and predators. This year's protracted spring with cool days has been hard on gopher snakes as they frequently sunbathe on the warm asphalt. Coyotes and red-tailed hawks prey upon gopher snakes; we have more of them than snakes in this country. Speaking of roads, just last week, I watched a red-tailed hawk take a gopher snake off Highway 124 near Prescott. Perhaps a gopher snake obesity epidemic is of lesser concern than the predators.

While snakes appear slithery, scaly, and even a little creepy, they play an important role in our local ecosystem. Life would be far more annoying without them. Consider a scene from an Australian mouse plague the next time you spot a gopher snake sunbathing on the blacktop and ask yourself, "Do I need more snakes in my life?"