Gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer), a Special Concern species and a Protected Wild Animal, prefers sand prairies, bluff prairies, oak savannas, and pine and oak barrens. Overwintering can occur in sand prairies, where they often den singly by using mammal burrows or other structures to get below the frost line or they may den communally using deep rock fissures on southerly exposed bluff prairies. This species is active from late-March through early-October, breeds mid-April through May, and lays its eggs in sand cavities they create or under large flat rocks in late-June and early-July. The eggs hatch in late-August and early-September.
